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A Look Inside Hamas's Weapons Arsenal

A Look Inside Hamas's Weapons Arsenal

BE'ERI, ISRAEL - OCTOBER 13: RPG's, (Rocket-propelled grenade) grenades, and automatic rifles used by Hamas militants are displayed for media after Hamas militants attacked this kibbutz near the Gaza border on October 13, 2023 in Jerusalem, Israel. Israel has sealed off Gaza and launched sustained retaliatory air strikes, which have killed at least 1,400 people with more than 300,000 displaced, after a large-scale attack by Hamas. On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza by land, sea, and air, killing over 1,300 people and wounding around 2,800. Israeli soldiers and civilians have also been taken hostage by Hamas and moved into Gaza. The attack prompted a declaration of war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the announcement of an emergency wartime government. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — While hardly a match for the overwhelmingly cutting-edge and highly trained Israeli forces, Hamas’s competency on the battlefield lies not in weapons finesse or accuracy but in its ability to produce and procure a stockpile of improvised rockets, mortars, explosives, anti-tank guided missiles and shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles (MANPADS) cheaply, quickly and under its neighbor’s radar with a focus on quantity, not quality.

“In the first category, Hamas has a surplus of small arms and light weapons thanks to its own logistical efforts and, of course, Iran. All those cheap Norinco Type 56-1 automatic rifles are the same seized on boats sailing to Yemen,” said Miguel Miranda, founder of the Southeast Asian monitoring service, Arms Show Tracker. “There’s also an abundance of RPG-7s and their derivatives, such as the Chinese Type 69, thanks to Iran. Hamas propaganda has also shown they manufacture tandem warheads for their RPG-7s. These munitions are based on a Russian design and are meant to defeat contemporary tank armor.”

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