The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has claimed that Iran played a key role in honing Hamas’ capability to develop guided cruise missiles.
The announcement was made after IDF troops discovered classified details of the militant group’s missile program in a raid on one of its sites in Gaza.
Israeli soldiers said they located an underground manufacturing plant housing components that allegedly prove Hamas operates and builds precision weapons under Iranian guidance.
The IDF even shared a video of what it asserted were rocket engines and warheads of a cruise missile developed by the Palestinian organization.
Jerusalem has long accused Tehran of helping Lebanese militant group Hezbollah acquire precision missile technology, but it did not expect that the same would apply to Hamas.
Confirming Previous Reports?
In November 2023, the IDF recovered documents from a computer found inside a Hamas pickup truck detailing a technical training request to the Iranian government.
The group reportedly wanted seven of its members to study engineering, physics, and technology at universities in Iran, suggesting the intent to produce its own sophisticated weapons.
“This example is another piece in an elaborate puzzle of a deep infrastructure of building, supporting, financing, and training terror proxies by the Iranian regime around the globe and specifically in the Gaza strip,” an Israeli official told CNN.
Involvement of Outside Forces
Apart from Iran, the IDF has also accused China of aiding Hamas operations against Israel.
A massive cache of top-grade Chinese weapons was seized from the militant group amid intensified ground and aerial operations by the IDF.
The weapons were reportedly brought into Gaza in an “organized process” and not through cargo ships.