MESOPOTAMIA NEWS  Special Dispatch | 9330 | May 12, 2021 MEMRI

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During the current Israel-Gaza clashes, several types of rockets and missiles have been fired from Gaza into Israel. Hamas’s military wing, the ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that missiles of the Sejjil type, as well as SH85, J80, SA120, S40 and Q20 missiles, were fired. According to another announcement, the Brigades reported that Hamas is using “a new, special tactic to fire the highly destructive Sejjil missiles,” which allows them to evade interception by Israel’s Iron Dome system. It also claimed that Hamas had fired a Kornet anti-tank missile at a military jeep north of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas announces it is using ‘a new special tactic’ to fire Sejjil missiles

Other terror organizations also boasted about the rockets fired into Israel. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) stated that it had fired Badr-3 rockets at the city of Ashkelon. The military wing of the Al-Mujahideen movement said it had fired a Sa’ir rocket at Nahal Oz, a kibbutz on the Gaza border, and the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees announced that it had fired a “KH rocket” at Israel’s Hatzerim air base on May 12 and “Model 107” rockets at the Ashkelon area.

As early as 2012, PIJ leaders had pointed out that its missiles had come from Iran. In recent years, the Gaza terror organizations have significantly upgraded their rocket capabilities, primarily with help from Iran, which has provided them with weapons and also helped them to boost their own rocket-manufacturing capabilities. Gazan officials have often highlighted the importance of this Iranian assistance, and stressed the direct involvement of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Qods Force killed in January 2020 in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, in the military buildup of Hamas and the PIJ.   

The following are excerpts from these statements, as published in MEMRI reports and clips.

May 2021 – Senior PIJ Official: The Rockets We Use to Pound Tel Aviv, And All Our Weapons, Money and Food, Are Provided By Iran

In an interview that aired on Al-Ahd TV (Iraq) on May 7, 2021, senior PIJ official Ramez Al-Halabi said that the rockets used by the faction to target Tel Aviv bear the signature of Iran and Soleimani. He added that faction members were trained by the IRGC and that Iranian money was used to buy weapons for the armed factions in Gaza and Lebanon. Al-Halabi added that every home in Gaza has Soleimani’s portrait, and that “it is they [Iran] who support us with weapons, money, and food.”

To view Al-Halabi’s statements on MEMRI TV, click here or below:

December 2020-January 2021 – Senior Hamas, Hizbullah Officials: Iran Sent Kornet Missiles To Gaza

At a January 2, 2021 memorial for Soleimani, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said: “During the time of aggression of 2008-2009 [i.e. Israel’s Operation Cast Lead] a shortage of anti-tank weapons was discovered among the resistance fighters in Gaza, and Soleimani tried [to ensure] that those weapons wsiould arrive in the shortest possible time…”

In a December 27, 2020 interview with Al-Mayadeen TV, Hizbullah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah clarified that the weapons in question were Russian Kornet anti-tank guided missiles, and that they had arrived via Syria. He said: “The brother Al-Hajj Qassem [Soleimani] told me: ‘Oh Sayyid [Nasrallah], we must take the Kornet [missiles] that you have and send them to the brothers in Gaza’ – of course we were talking about Hamas and PIJ. I answered him: ‘…We took those missiles from the brothers in Syria. President Bashar Al-Assad agreed that those missiles, which Syria purchased from Russia, are in South Lebanon, but I don’t know whether he will agree to them being in Gaza… It is only right that I request his approval.’ [Soleimani] told me: ‘No problem. Whoever meets with him first will speak to him.’

“By chance, I was the first to meet with President Al-Assad, and so I spoke to him… [Assad] said: ‘As far as I’m concerned, there’s no problem.’ At the same time, Qassem [Soleimani] and the joint [Qods Force-Hizbullah] cell… received the Kornet [missiles] and transferred them [to Gaza].

“This is [only] one example. Everyone knows that the brother Qassem Soleimani and the brothers in the Islamic Republic of Iran also sent [military] aid to Gaza using [their] diplomatic relations – for example, their relations with Sudan. Things came to the point where Israeli planes bombed factories or weapons storehouses in Sudan… because they are storehouses for weapons, ammunition and missiles to be sent later, by various and diverse means, to the Gaza Strip.”

Regarding the Kornet missiles which Hamas received from Iran, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar told Al-Mayadeen TV in a December 28, 2020 interview: “The Kornet missile has become necessary for the struggle against the occupation state… The Kornet conveyed to the occupation the message that it will be difficult for it to approach the [Gaza] borders… The Kornet constitutes a deterrent force that should be developed, in preparation for the defeat of the occupation and all its collaborators.” Alluding to Iran, Al-Zahar thanked “all those who provide assistance to the resistance in the struggle against the occupation, even if it is [as small as] a pen.”

December 2020-January 2021 – PIJ Secretary-General Nakhalah: Soleimani Personally Oversaw The Transfer Of Rockets To Gaza

In a December 31, 2020 interview with Al-Mayadeen TV, PIJ Secretary-General Ziad Al-Nakhalah said: “We have had the Kornet [missile] in our possession since 2012, as have our brothers in Hamas. In all the campaigns [against Israel]… the resistance has used them… All the conventional weapons reached [Gaza] via Al-Hajj Qassem Soleimani, Hizbullah, and Syria, and the entire [resistance] axis played a part in transporting them… There are training camps in Syria where our brothers in Hamas received special training to produce the rockets…” Nakhalah said that Soleimani had personally “supervised and directed the transfer of the missiles to Gaza [and had] travelled among several countries to persuade them [to help with this]… He personally visited Sudan [and arrived at] a clear agreement that it [Sudan] would serve as a station for the transfer of the weapons.”

Nakhalah also revealed that Soleimani had send 10 shiploads of weapons to the Gaza Strip.

The next day, January 1, 2021, Nakhalah told Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam TV about Soleimani’s role in arming and training the military factions in Gaza. He said that “nothing happened without his direct orders and oversight” and that it was Soleimani who had supplied the missiles used to attack Tel Aviv. Al-Nakhaleh added that Soleimani had played a “pivotal” role in the decision to attack “the capital of the Zionist entity” and that thanks to the experience gained under Soleimani’s guidance, the people of Gaza had learned how to manufacture missiles locally.

Nakhalah said: “With the capabilities at hand today, Gaza can confront Israel for a prolonged war. These expertise did not come from nowhere. They are the result of a great effort by Hajj Qassem [Soleimani] to enable [the Palestinian] fighters to reach that goal.”

Adding that Soleimani “did not train [the Palestinians] himself, obviously, but he gave instructions to the experts who supervised these matters,” Nakhalah said that his plans had “of course” been implemented, and that “nothing happened without his direct orders and supervision. What stage was reached, the results, all these things – he supervised all that. This was in addition to the strategic step of sending missiles and weapons to the Gaza strip. It was almost miraculous. It was very expensive in terms of technology, security, and capabilities…”

Despite the logistics, he said, “it was accomplished. [Soleimani] himself invested a lot [of effort] into this. He traveled to various countries, made plans, and set up guidelines to deliver these weapons [to the Gaza Strip]. And indeed, these weapons were delivered [to the Gaza Strip]. I can say that the missiles that [Soleimani] delivered to the Gaza Strip were the ones used to attack Tel Aviv. I can say that Hajj Qassem played a pivotal role in the fact that the Palestinians ventured to attack the capital of the Zionist entity. From that point in time, weapons were developed in Palestine, and the Palestinians began to manufacture all the missiles themselves as a result of the experience they gained thanks to the decisions of Hajj Qasem. This is a great and important issue, and without a doubt played a role in strengthening the Palestinian resistance.”

To view Nakhala’s statements on MEMRI TV, click here or below:

May 2020 – PIJ Secretary-General Nakhalah: Nothing Happened In Gaza Without Soleimani’s Direct Orders And Oversight; He Supplied The Rockets We Used To Attack Tel Aviv

In a May 21, 2020 interview, on Egypt’s Al-Nas TV, PIJ leader Nakhala told Iraq’s Al-Nujaba TV that thousands of Palestinian fighters had been trained at designated camps set up by Soleimani. He explained that these fighters had been transported out of the West Bank and Gaza to these camps, and that six months previously, in December 2019, 80 PIJ fighters had been arrested by authorities in Egypt.

He said in the interview: “People do not know that thousands of Palestinians were trained in camps supervised by Hajj Qassem [Soleimani]. I’m talking about thousands of Palestinians from within the occupied land. By various methods and means, they would be transported, trained, and returned.”

Confirming that the fighters were transported from “Gaza and the West Bank,” he added: “I wouldn’t be revealing a secret if I told you that six months ago, the Egyptians detained 80 of our fighters in Cairo. I travelled to Cairo and we reached an understanding.”

To view Nakhala’s statements on MEMRI TV, click here or below: Hamas, Islamic Jihad Officials: Iran Provides Our Missiles, Weapons, Funds, And Food, Our Gunmen ‘Were Trained By Our Brothers In The IRGC’; Without Iran’s Assistance, We Wouldn’t Be Able To Fire Rockets At Tel Aviv; Qassem Soleimani Personally Oversaw Transfer Of Rockets To Gaza | MEMRI