Exclusive: Hamas may receive lethal Iran-made EFP roadside bombs
Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin reported to Israel’s weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, May 25, on Hamas’ rapidly expanding arsenal. He said it is only a question of time before Palestinian rockets from Gaza fly past Ashkelon to Israel’s main port of Ashdod, 25 km south of Tel Aviv and the town of Kiryat Gat, 30 km further south. Hamas, in Diskin’s view, is steadily building up its war stocks and unlikely to accept a ceasefire.
Ashdod, which handles most of Israel’s marine cargoes, has a population of 200,000, Kiryat Gat 50,000.
debkafile‘s military sources report that Hamas’ Damascus leader, Khaled Meshaal secretly met the Revolutionary Guards commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani during his visit to Tehran Saturday, May 24.
First, he was taken around the IRGC factories manufacturing the roadside bombs known as explosively-formed penetrators (EFPs), which are dreaded for their extra armor-piercing capabilities and can be remotely operated by radio.
US armored vehicles in Iraq were this year fitted with extra side armor plates for protection after these roadside bombs had begun to account for 5 percent of American combat casualties.
According to intelligence sources, Hamas will soon receive EFPs from Iran with which to blow up Israel armored vehicles by remote control from inside the Gaza Strip.
Internal security minister Avi Dichter divulged to the ministers the mechanism whereby the Israeli taxpayer indirectly bankrolls Hamas.
The Israeli government last year transferred more than $1 billion to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad. The funds covered the PA’s public sector payroll, which expanded this year from 160,000 to 200,000 earners. They include members of the various terrorist groups, such as the ruling Fatah and its branches, but also a massive transfer to the Gaza Strip to pay 70,000 administrative workers, most of them members of Hamas. In this way, Dichter reported, the Israeli government is putting up the cash for terrorists.