Sunday, May 25, 2008

Hamas May Receive Iran's Lethal EFP Roadside Bombs


Slowly but surely we are seeing the tactical and weaponry landscape of those terrorists neighboring Israel change. And it has gone beyond concern...it should be causing a huge increase in Israeli preparations. Look at this from an article out at DEBKA:


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.
These EFPs are the IEDs that the Iranians have developed to make most armor obsolete and the fact of the matter is that if these are brought into play in Gaza, we could see Israeli military casualties we have never seen before. Now, the one advantage that the Israelis have is their watchful eye on Gaza and the very small geography to watch for IED/EFP placement - the challenge in Iraq has been the huge area just can't be monitored so insurgents often have all the time in the world to place IEDs.

But what this all means is further escalation of Iran's influence in the Hamas and Hezbollah wars on Israel - Hezbollah has the sophisticated anti-tank weapons from Iran as well as the longer range rockets and Hamas has seen their stockpiles of rockets triple in the past year.

Hopefully, the Israelis will strike up some real conversations with U.S. military minds on the IED/EFP subject as the U.S has become experts on it in Iraq.


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.

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