WarSclerotic

Hamas bolstering its long-range missile arsenal, Israel Hayom, February 12, 2-14

IDF officials: Hamas has shifted focus from smuggling in weapons through tunnels to producing weapons locally • IDF believes likelihood of a third intifada breaking out is low • Palestinian official says Kerry’s framework proposal may be doomed to fail.

Gaza terrorists stand next to an M-75 rocket, which has the ability to reach both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem | Photo credit: AFP

The likelihood of a third intifada breaking out is low, but Hamas has amassed hundreds of rockets that can hit central Israel, according to Israeli Defense Forces officials.

IDF officials said there has been a “dramatic change” in the balance of powers between Palestinian factions. The main troublemaker in the Gaza Strip is the Islamic Jihad terror group, and recent rocket fire from Gaza into Israel has shown that Hamas’ ability to control other groups in Gaza may have weakened to some extent.

 “However, Hamas’ ability to exercise authority in Gaza is still high, its electoral potential has not been hurt in the West Bank either,” IDF officials said.

 The IDF believes there is little motivation in the West Bank for a third intifada. “People remember the sight of Israeli tanks in city centers very well, and that is a serious deterrent against a third intifada,” a senior IDF officer said.

 But Hamas has not been sitting idly by. The IDF believes that terrorist group has made a shift from relying on smuggling in weapons through tunnels toward a focus on locally produced weaponry. Hamas, according to IDF assessments, and now has a stockpile of hundreds of M-75 rockets that can hit central Israel. It is also believed that this arsenal of long-range rockets will grow significantly over the next year.

 “An underground tunnel city is being built in the Gaza Strip, and could be used to move forces around and protect Hamas commanders in case of a future conflict with Israel,” an IDF official said.

 Meanwhile, three Israeli government ministers were expected to take part in a demonstration on Thursday to support construction in the E1 area between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim. The demonstration is an initiative of Maaleh Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel.

 Transportation and Road Safety Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud), Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi), and Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Yair Shamir (Yisrael Beytenu) planned to attend the demonstration.

 Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) referred to the current peace talks with the Palestinians on Tuesday. “I don’t know if we are close to reaching an agreement, but I am renovating my housing in Nokdim [a community in Judea] and adding a new room,” he said.

 A top Palestinian official said on Tuesday that the framework Israeli-Palestinian agreement being crafted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry may be doomed to fail.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said the deal due to be submitted to the two sides in the coming weeks would be “useless” if it allowed them to nominally accept its principles but to express reservations.

 “Use of the word ‘reservations’ bogs down the peace process and the use of this concept in the past has got the process stuck,” Abu Rudeineh told Reuters.

 Abu Rudeineh cautioned against the Kerry document traversing any Palestinian “red lines.”

 Abu Rudeineh said the framework agreement must clearly recognize the 1967 lines as the outline demarcating the two states, designate east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and call Israel’s settlements “illegal.”

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