How Hamas gets weapons in Gaza despite strict border control? Israel has imposed a complete ban on the Gaza Strip and declared that it will completely destroy Hamas after moving into the next phase of its all-out operation.
The Gaza Strip is a small territory, around 1/4 the size of Delhi, under the control of the Palestinian organisation Hamas. It is home to 2.3 million people.
Despite making a total retreat in 2005, Israel still maintains rigorous control over the marine, air, and land borders in the Gaza Strip to prevent the passage of weaponry to Hamas in the area.
Only two border crossings in a 365 km2 stretch of territory allow for tight monitoring of the movement of people in Gaza by Egypt and Israel.
How Hamas gets weapons in Gaza?
The Gaza Strip is bordered by Egypt and Israel on two sides, as can be seen in the map. The Israeli Navy only permits travel within a 12-nautical-mile radius along the Mediterranean Sea’s western shore.
Weapons are dropped by arms smugglers on the Mediterranean Sea shore, where they are later given to Hamas.
Despite Israeli Navy marine control, the armament sources were successful in providing the organisation with weaponry.
Tunnels serve as an alternative method for the smugglers of armaments to transport their cargo.
Egypt and Gaza share a border, and tunnels are being constructed to transport weaponry there. Weapons including the Fajr-3, Fajr-5, and M-302 rockets are sent from Iran and Syria via the tunnel network.
The Fajr-3 is an unguided surface-to-surface artillery missile made in Iran. Hezbollah, a group with close ties to Iran and Syria, has the Fajr-3 in its arsenal.
It has a 43 km range. The Fajr-5 carries a 90 kg high explosive (HE) with an enhanced range of 75 kilometres.
A long-range unguided rocket employed by Hamas, the M-302 rocket or Khaibar-1, is likewise made by Iran and is apparently provided by Hezbollah.
Over 5,000 rockets were launched from Gaza during the initial wave of strikes against Israel. Hamas has improved its primitive rocket technology over time to increase its range, and it is claimed that missiles supplied by Iran were used to overpower Israel’s virtually impenetrable Iron Dome air defence system.
Iran has supported Operation Al-Aqsa Flood by Hamas, although it has dismissed Israel’s assertions that it is supporting the operation and denied having any direct role in the conflict.
In 2021, the US State Department claimed that Iran provides Hamas with finance, training, and weaponry. According to sources, Iran provides 70% of all the funding for Hamas.
