Hamas has acquired dozens of large, highly explosive rockets, more powerful than those previously in its arsenal, that could be used to devastating effect on the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported Tuesday.
Each rocket is said to contain hundreds of kilograms of explosive material, far beyond the capacities of the other missiles and mortar shells believed to be in the terrorist group’s hands.
n the 2014 Gaza war, Hamas launched thousands of rockets and mortar shells at Israel and had dozens of its attack tunnels destroyed. In the two and a half years since the conflict, it has worked to refill its spent weapons caches and rebuild that military infrastructure.
According to Israeli assessments, it achieved that goal earlier this year.
According to the Army Radio report, the new rockets have a short range of a few kilometers, comparable to that of a mortar shell, but pack an explosive punch unlike anything seen before in the hands of Hamas.
While the Iron Dome anti-missile system can intercept short-range rockets, it is less effective against mortar shells and other projectiles with shorter ranges, as it cannot locate, target and shoot them down quickly enough.
