Before October 7, 2023, Hamas had many thousands of weapons at its disposal in the Gaza Strip.

While an ongoing US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas stands, the Gaza-based terror group is not giving up its weapons load. According to Israeli public broadcaster KAN News, Hamas has begun stockpiling its arsenal across the region. The report claims that the Iranian-backed group is temporarily storing its weapons in Yemen, African nations, and other countries so that they can later be smuggled to preferred locations down the line. As part of the peace plan between Israel and Hamas, the terror group is tasked with complete disarmament. Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, announced earlier this week that the Israel Defense Forces’ efforts to disarm the terror group’s underground tunnel network along the “Yellow Line” in the Gaza Strip were “progressing well.” Katz added that “The IDF is working to destroy the tunnels through explosions, or by filling and pumping liquid concrete into the tunnels in all areas under its control.”

Hamas has operated in the Gaza Strip since 2007, when the designated terrorist organization seized control of the Mediterranean coastal land bordered by Egypt and Gaza. While the group’s weapons stockpile is less sophisticated than Israel’s, Hamas has accumulated large swaths of drones, missiles, rockets, and other munitions from its Iranian sponsor. As detailed by the Department of State’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2021, Hamas receives funding, weapons, and training from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). During the October 7, 2023, invasion, many of the arms used by Hamas in the attack against Israel were revealed to be of Iranian origin. A report published by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies analyzed images and video footage of the invasion to ascertain exactly which weapons were used. From the M112 demolition charges and AZ111-A2 fuses to AM-50 Sayyad sniper rifles and lethal unmanned aerial vehicles, Iranian-designed weapons were on full display.

Tehran’s “forward defense policy,” which centers on gaining footholds throughout the Middle East to better position itself to launch attacks against its perceived enemies, has directly led to its funding of proxy groups throughout the region. Specifically, Iran is committed to its anti-Israel, anti-American, and general anti-Western contempt through the use of its affiliate offshoot groups. In addition to Hamas in Gaza, Iran funds Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. Prior to the October 7 attack, Hamas consisted of roughly 20,000-25,000 combatants and possessed a weapons load of around 20,000-30,000 rockets and missiles. While the majority of these projectiles are short-range, Iran has provided Hamas with the technology and training required to domestically manufacture some of the longer-range rockets the group has launched within the Gaza Strip.

Over the last two-plus years of warfare, Israel has significantly reduced Hamas’s weapons arsenal and personnel count. However, the terror group is unlikely to voluntarily disarm its remaining stockpiles as part of the ongoing ceasefire. Tracking the group’s smuggling efforts across the region and into North Africa should remain a top concern for Israel.

About the Author: Maya Carlin

Maya Carlin, national security writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues. Carlin has bylines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.

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