A media report cited Israeli security officials as saying that terrorist groups in Gaza have replenished their supplies of rockets and now have approximately 10,000 rockets ready to be fired at Israel.
In an article titled Rejuvenated Hamas Tests Israel in High-Stakes Brinkmanship, The Wall Street Journal cited current and former Israeli security officials as saying that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad rearmed through smuggling via tunnels into Egypt and local production. Most of the rockets are described as being crude, capable of short to medium range. The report stated that there are hundreds of rockets that are more advanced and capable of hitting targets deeper inside Israel.
Last month, almost 700 rockets were launched at Israel, killing four and landing as far away as Beersheba.
In an interview with Hezbollah’s Al-Manar network, PIJ leader Ziad Nahala threatened that the next round of attacks against Israel would be much worse.
“Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip have the capability to launch a thousand rockets a day for a whole month,” Nahala said. “In the last round of conflict, Palestinian factions limited themselves to medium-range fire. In the next confrontation with Israel, rockets will be fired not only at Tel Aviv, but at all Israeli cities, whatever the consequences.”
US Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt responded to the report on Twitter on Tuesday, noting that the terrorist rule of Gaza will only lead to increased suffering by the Palestinian people.
Continued terror threats from Hamas, which claims: “The region…will not enjoy calm as long as the enemy [Israel] is on Palestinian land and Gaza is besieged.” Hamas & Palestinian Islamic Jihad continue to bring misery & suffering to Palestinians in Gaza https://t.co/Q4sZS8atgj
— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) June 4, 2019
Last month, Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhala predicted that a war would break out between Israel and Gaza this summer because of the intention to “disarm the resistance in Gaza.”
Iran also plays a major role in rocket attacks on Israel. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar thanked Iran on Thursday for providing rockets to the terrorist group to launch towards Israel.
“Iran provided us with rockets, and we surprised the world when our resistance targeted Beersheba,” said Sinwar on TV.
“Had it not been for Iran, the resistance in Palestine would not have possessed its current capabilities,” he said.
