Bassel Mahdi, commander of a platoon in the Islamic Jihad, was apprehended by IDF and Shin Bet forces in the Gaza Strip on Dec. 20, 2023 and was transferred to Israel for questioning.
In his investigation by the Shin Bet, Mahdi describes the training that Islamic Jihad operatives went through at a military training base in Iran. The training was conducted by Iranian soldiers in groups of between 15-20 members of the Islamic Jihad from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
Quotes from Bassel Mehdi's Shin Bet investigation:
"My commander called me and said that I should go to Iran for a sniper course, I will benefit from it and my salary will increase when I return."
"I went from the Gaza Strip to Egypt where I stayed for about two weeks, from there I went to Syria for a few days and then to Lebanon. After two weeks we went from Syria to Iran again.'
"In Iran the course was 15 days. It had physical fitness training and shooting training on different types of weapons.'
"4 days training on a Kalashnikov (AK-47) at a distance of 100 meters, 5 days at a distance of 100 to 150 meters, 6 days on a Dragunov (sniper rifle). We practiced shooting stones, targets, balloons at a distance of 300 meters.'
"There are activists who went through rocket and artillery courses and training in Iran."
Source: 0404 (Israel)