Iran linked to Hamas missile strikes

The open war that continues to rage in the Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians continues to escalate. The escalation of violence between the two sides has already left more than 198 people dead in Gaza, including 58 children, and 10 dead in Israel. These figures are expected to continue to rise as, for the time being, there are still no political processes in place that augur well for both short- and long-term peace.

The Hamas jihadist organisation continues to launch rockets from Gaza into Israel. Specifically, the jihadist group has reportedly launched more than 3,100 missiles into Israel, 90% of which are estimated to have been intercepted by the anti-missile system known as the Iron Dome, a system capable of detecting the position of rockets, determining whether their trajectory represents a threat and sending another missile in response to detonate and intercept it. However, missiles continue to be launched from Gaza and offensives are expected to continue.

In this regard, Hamas has a wide range of surface-to-surface missiles, as well as Russian kornet missiles that, according to official Israeli documents, were allegedly introduced by the Al-Assad regime. Syria is not the only country linked to Hamas's rearmament. According to Israeli sources, Iran is reportedly a primary nexus, linking it directly to the delivery of "military know-how and technology to the Hamas resistance axis, which now has precision missiles".
 

In an interview on Lebanese Al-Manar television, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said that "the missile capability in Gaza exists thanks to Iran" and referred to statements issued by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei years ago who warned "the Zionist entity" that the cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv would be destroyed in case of an attack on Iran. 
 

In this vein, senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar stated in an interview on the Al-Mayadeen channel that "the kornet missiles have sent a message to Israel and have served as a deterrent force that must be developed in preparation for defeating Israel and anyone who collaborates with it". Alongside this, the chairman of Hamas's political bureau in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, claimed that "Iran would have equipped the Palestinian resistance with missiles" and that without its support "they would not have obtained these capabilities after the Arab nation gave up on Hamas's support". 

Recent air strikes in Gaza by the Israeli army have destroyed nine miles of tunnels from which Hamas forces reportedly operate, as well as nine homes of alleged commanders. Hamas's representative in Lebanon, Ahmed Abdelhadi, claimed as early as January 2020 "that there are more than 360 kilometres in the Gaza Strip" and that the idea was derived from Imad Mughniyeh and Haj Qassem Soleimani, who reportedly went to Gaza more than once to "participate and defend the programme from the first phase of its planning". Similarly, another member of Hamas's political wing alleged that 'Hamas had become a part of Iran's and Hezbollah's system in the conflict of the American Zionist project'. 
 

In addition, these air strikes have in recent days knocked down several buildings that are said to be controlled by Hamas infrastructures, including the offices of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera media outlets. According to Israeli intelligence, the jihadist group could have a total of 30,000 rockets and projectiles under its control and, thanks to Persian support and supplies, would have a self-sufficient military industry to continue manufacturing weapons.

At present, the missiles available to Hamas are of shorter and longer range. The first group consists of rockets such as the Qassam and Quds 101. The second group consists of rockets such as the Iranian-supplied Fajr, which can reach a range of up to 100 kilometres, M-75 missiles and some M-302 missiles that can reach a range of 200 kilometres. According to the BBC, these missiles would be capable of striking cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

However, despite having such arsenals, many of these missiles have been clearly flawed. According to the Israeli authorities, 200 missiles are said to have missed their target and fallen in areas of Gaza. According to the Israeli ambassador to Spain, Rodica Radian-Gordon, of the thousands of missiles launched, "between 20 and 30 per cent would have fallen in the Gaza Strip".

Similarly, in the last few hours, six rockets have been launched into Israel from Lebanon, but failed to reach Israeli territory. In response, Israeli troops have launched artillery attacks on the enclaves from which the rockets were launched.

The Israeli army claims to have hit "35 terrorist targets" in addition to the tunnels. In this operation, Israel carried out air strikes involving 160 aircraft, which destroyed the area in just 40 minutes after launching 450 missiles. This operation against Hamas is considered to be the largest in recent years.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to continue attacks on Gaza and "terrorist targets" in an operation he calls "moral and just", ignoring Egyptian and Biden administration support for a ceasefire, despite three US vetoes of a peace operation in the region. The number of wounded in Gaza continues to rise, reaching 1,235 people affected by the attacks.