(Gatestone Institute) Yaakov Lappin - Gaza has transformed itself in recent years into one of the world's most active terrorist havens. According to Israeli intelligence estimates, Hamas has amassed over 5,000 short-range rockets and dozens of medium-range rockets that all can reach greater Tel Aviv, and place 70% of Israeli civilians in range. Additionally, Hamas is building extremely long attack tunnels that stretch for more than a kilometer, that can be used to inject terror cells into Israel to carry out attacks or kidnap soldiers. Hamas pours millions of dollars into these tunnels. Hamas' fighting divisions consist of some 16,000 gunmen. Moreover, Hamas is not alone. With the aid of Iranian funds and training, Islamic Jihad has built up a fighting force of 5,000 armed men and more than 2,000 rockets, and that number is growing. There are also 4,000 or so members of smaller Gazan terror groups, each armed with its own mini-arsenal of rockets, bombs, and assault weapons. Many of these groups are loyal to the vision of al-Qaeda and maintain ties with fellow jihadis in neighboring Sinai.
2014-04-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive