These various weapons systems were found only after traversing 100 meters of tunnel space in an area that itself had been identified by Israeli intelligence as requiring deeper investigation.
YONAH JEREMY BOB JANUARY 7, 2024 13:59
Updated: JANUARY 7, 2024 14:21IDF troops of the Nahal Brigade operate in Gaza, January 7, 2024 (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
The IDF announced on Sunday that its intelligence apparatus has obtained evidence of Iranian involvement in training Hamas to manufacture and fire precision rockets and other strategic weapons.
There was a direct connection between the timing of the announcement and the IDF’s penetration and taking over of a large strategic tunnel in the Daraj Tuffah area of northern Gaza in recent days.
As part of the operation, the IDF brought in experts to analyze the long-range and precision rockets and other items it found there.
The IDF declined to specify exactly what signs there were of Iranian training and guidance in the manufacturing and firing of the weapons, but in the past, some weapons have had Iranian signs or Persian words on them.
In other instances, there have been guidebooks or messages recovered from electronic devices with connections to the Islamic Republic.
Though Hamas is an independent entity, Israeli intelligence has said for years that the terror group could not have pulled off the October 7 surprise attack or reached the level of its current fighting prowess without general funding, logistics support, and training from Tehran.
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However, such statements are often made in a general manner, and Sunday’s findings were more direct evidence than usual of the ayatollahs’ involvement.
These various weapons systems were found only after traversing 100 meters of tunnel space in an area that itself had been identified by Israeli intelligence as requiring deeper investigation.
Those Hamas forces guarding the area also put up a more significant fight, including face-to-face clashes, than the terror group is often putting up in other areas, where its tactics tend to be sudden hit and runs popping out of tunnel shafts and fleeing back to those shafts.
Drones and helicopters were critical to assisting IDF Nahal land forces during the battle.
Hamas’s last stronghold in northern Gaza falls
Daraj Tuffah was viewed by the IDF as the last stronghold of Hamas in northern Gaza after the fall of Jablia on December 19 and the fall of most of Gaza City in mid-November.
Nahal Commander Col. Yair Zuckerman said, “We are in Daraj Tuffah along with our integrated battle teams. In recent days, we encountered the enemy, many cells, [terror] infrastructure and boobytraps…we found defensive tunnels and rocket firing platforms, from right here,” signaling where he was standing.
Zuckerman was appointed to lead Nahal forces on October 7 after its pre-war commander, Col. Jonathan Steinberg, was killed on his way to try to rescue Israelis in the South under invasion by Hamas.
The invasion of Daraj Tuffah was broken down roughly into two stages over around two weeks of fighting.
In the first 4-7 days, the fighting was the heaviest, with much more organized attacks by Hamas forces.
During the second stage, Hamas terrorists still mounted a significant challenge but started fighting more using hit-and-run tactics from underground areas.
Over Friday and Saturday, the IDF took out an area where Hamas had set up 30 platforms for firing rockets and from where it had even fired rockets on Ashkelon and toward Ashdod in recent days.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-781147.