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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| 'Hamas using US weapons against IDF' |
| 2008-03-04 |
| According to Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip, most of the gunmen who have been fighting the IDF over the past few days are members of Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin Kassam. "At least 2,000 Hamas gunmen have been deployed in the northern Gaza Strip to take part in the fighting," the sources told The Jerusalem Post. The sources estimated that Izaddin Kassam has at least 15,000 members divided into four brigades in the Gaza Strip. They added that the Hamas gunmen were using many American-made arms seized from the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority security forces in June. Hamas says it captured thousands of M-16 and Kalashnikov rifles, and large supplies of ammunition during its weeklong conquest of Gaza. Hamas is also believed to have acquired weapons capable of penetrating armor and stockpiles of rocket-propelled grenades. A senior Hamas official said Sunday that his movement had smuggled hundreds of rockets and mortars and tons of explosives into the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the past few months. The Hamas-dominated police force in the Gaza Strip, which has around 15,000 members, has not been involved in the fighting, although the IDF has targeted some of its bases. Hamas has been careful not to send the police force to the battlefield so as to avoid a total breakdown of its official institutions. The policemen are needed by Hamas to maintain law and order and to thwart any attempt by rival groups such as Fatah from taking advantage of the security deterioration to topple the Hamas government. Other groups that are involved in the fighting include Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and some splinter factions belonging to Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. These three groups, which according to Palestinian sources are operating in coordination with Hamas, have also been behind many of the rocket attacks on Israel in the past few days. Altogether, the three groups have fewer than 1,500 gunmen in Gaza. But Hamas has sought to play down the role of the other armed groups in the fighting in the hope that it will score points on the "Palestinian street" as the major force that fought "courageously" against Israel. Hamas is hoping that once the fighting is over, it will be able to declare "victory, as Hizbullah did after the war in 2006." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Hamas has been careful not to send the police force to the battlefield so as to avoid a total breakdown of its official institutions. Now that sounds very strange, either they can't trust the "Police" or they're afraid of the people when there are no cops around to back them up? Or is it that they don't dare show just how Piss Poor the cops really are? Odd. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-03-04 23:20 |
| #7 who cares . they will fire all their ammo into the air the first time a car blows up |
| Posted by: sinse 2008-03-04 17:44 |
| #6 But the weapons were for the Political Wing. It's not fair! /State Dept. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-03-04 15:57 |
| #5 I see the State Department's solutions to problems keep coming up tails. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is not a good policy. Get rid of the State Department and start over with new people that aren't fucking clinically insane. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-03-04 09:17 |
| #4 Who'd a guess that ? Arming Paleos and not having them turn your own guns and ammo on you. Oh yeah, Rice. |
| Posted by: Woozle Elmeter 2907 2008-03-04 09:13 |
| #3 I think some of the Hamas weapons are of US govt. origin and taken from the Fatah forces. However, these weapons aren't crucial. The most important thing the gunmen do is provide cover for the specialists who fire the RPGs, place mines, fire rockets, etc. and these weapons are not of US govt origin (some are, however, US made). |
| Posted by: mhw 2008-03-04 08:27 |
| #2 These are the American weapons they stole from the PA, right? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-03-04 08:02 |
| #1 Surprise meter? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-03-04 07:01 |