TEL AVIV – Hamas on Friday reportedly test fired 12 rockets from the central and southern Gaza Strip, launching the projectiles into Mediterranean Sea.
Earlier this month, Breitbart Jerusalem reported that Hamas in the Gaza Strip has been launching regular rocket tests and has been hard at work attempting to manufacture rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv. It has also shared its rocket-making capabilities with other terrorist organizations in the coastal enclave, according to security sources here familiar with the matter.
The fear is that Gaza’s Hamas rulers are deliberately aiding other jihadist groups so they can blame outside organizations for future rocket fire.
During the Israel-Gaza War of 2014, Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza fired dozens of rockets toward Tel Aviv and satellite cities. Some rockets fired by Hamas were manufactured inside the Gaza Strip. Others were reportedly Iran-provided Grad and Fajr rockets.
Separately, Palestinian Authority security officials told Breitbart Jerusalem earlier this month that Palestinian organizations in Gaza conduct five to ten rocket tests per week by firing projectiles into the Mediterranean Sea.
The rocket manufacturing and testing was confirmed by a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces.
“Rocket testing takes place over the territory of the Gaza Strip and over the Mediterranean Sea as part of Hamas’s development of high trajectory fire,” an IDF spokesperson toldBreitbart Jerusalem.
Continued the IDF spokesperson:
“The terrorist organization Hamas is constantly engaged in the strengthening and development of the infrastructure of terror in the Gaza Strip. Among other activities, the organization is engaged in the manufacturing of rockets meant to target Israeli civilians.”
“In the period since Operation Protective Edge, several rockets have been fired into Israeli territory. The IDF holds Hamas responsible for all attacks against Israeli citizens emanating from the Gaza Strip.”
It is noteworthy that in recent weeks several Palestinian organizations have claimed they have the capability to manufacture rockets that can reach Tel Aviv.
The National Resistance Brigades, the military branch of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has publicly stated they are capable of manufacturing rockets that can reach up to 70 kilometers – within striking range of Tel Aviv. The group claimed it carried out a test firing of the rockets toward the sea.
The al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades of the Popular Resistance Committees recently announced that they also managed to produce a similar rocket.
Speaking to Breitbart Jerusalem, Abu Haled, the spokesperson for the National Resistance Brigades, denied his group is receiving any assistance from Hamas.
Haled claimed his organization’s combatants possess the necessary knowledge and skills to manufacture rockets and do not need outside assistance.
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.