In 2024, an Iranian diplomat admitted that his government has been funding and arming Hamas.
On Monday, Netivot police discovered an explosive device used by Hamas terrorists during their invasion of a southern kibbutz on October 7, 2023.
The device, clearly supplied by Iran, was found near Kibbutz Alumim, where heavy fighting took place during the invasion. Twenty-two Alumim inhabitants were murdered that day, including 20 workers from Nepal and Thailand. Hamas kidnapped Nepalese Bipin Joshi and took the body of murdered police sergeant Ran Gvili to Gaza.
Southern District bomb disposal experts neutralized the bomb.
Evidence has revealed that Hamas used sniper rifles, AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and anti-tank rockets from Iran, Russia, and China.
An Associated Press analysis of more than 150 videos and photos taken since Hamas launched its October 7 invasion of Israel shows the terror group amassed a diverse arsenal of weapons from around the world, despite the 17-year blockade that was designed to prevent Hamas from securing foreign armaments.
“We are searching everywhere for weapons, for political support, for money,” Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad said in an interview with the AP, without naming the sources of the weapons.
Experts who reviewed the images identified distinguishing features that show where many of the weapons used by Hamas terrorists were manufactured.
Still, the signs do not indicate whether they were supplied by the governments of those countries or purchased on the black market, with weapons and components listed for sale.
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s envoy to the United Nations, denied last year that Iran was involved in the specific plans of terror groups such as Hamas and the Houthis, but affirmed that the Islamic Republic was arming Hamas.
“We have not participated in this decision. It was the Palestinian decision and the Palestinian implementation. We have … no role in this case,” he said. “In the case of Palestine [sic], we’re sending arms [sic], we’re training them and empowering them.”
Image - Yossi Zamir/Flash90