A cache of medium to long range rockets the IDF says it found in a Hamas weapons depot in Gaza was ... [+]
On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Force announced it had found a large Hamas weapons depot in Gaza with an array of weapons including Iranian-designed missiles.
The IDF claims the weapons were found in one the largest Hamas weapons depots in the Gaza Strip sited near a clinic and school in the northern portion of the Gaza Strip. Among the rocket-propelled grenades (RPG), RPG launchers, firearms, explosive devices, anti-tank missiles and other munitions the IDF says it seized were medium to long range rockets of Iranian design.
The rockets can clearly be seen in the video provided by the Israeli Defense Ministry. They include rounds labeled M75 and J90. The M75 is a Gaza-produced version of Iran’s Fajr-5, a solid fuel, 333mm rocket capable of carrying a 392-pound (178 kg) payload out to a 47-mile (75 km) range.
Hamas has been locally producing the rockets since 2011 or 2012 in workshops (often underground) using schematics, documentation and guidance systems supplied by Iran and leveraging assistance from Iranian client, Hezbollah. It showed off M75 production in footage broadcast in Gaza in 2014.
Footage obtained by The Guardian Newspaper in 2014 showing M75 rockets being assembled by Hamas ... [+]
The “M” in M75 is derived from Hamas’ Qassam Brigades founding member, Ibrahim al-Maqadma, who was assassinated by Israel in 2003. The “75” alludes to its 75 kilometers range. Also in 2014, Hamas unveiled a monument in Gaza City featuring a life-size model of an M75.
The Fajr-5 upon which it is based has also been supplied to Hezbollah in Lebanon and it remains in development. Earlier this year, Iran test-fired a Fajr-5 with a more powerful thermobaric warhead.
The IDF video also shows a rocket labeled “J90”. The genesis of this rocket is not entirely clear but it may be an improved version of the Fajr-5/M75, capable of a 90-100 km (55-60 mi) range.
The slightly larger Hamas R-160 is based on the Chinese-designed, Syrian built M302 (302 mm) which though not in the video, joins larger 100-plus mile capable rockets like the A-120 and SH in the terrorist group’s arsenal.
Amidst 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas in May 2021 (known in Israel as Operation Guardian of the Walls), Israeli intelligence estimated that the terrorist group had 200-300 of these rockets on hand. In the last two years the stock of these rockets may have been replenished by another 100 or so given Israeli intelligence estimates that 60-70 percent of projectiles in Gaza are produced indigenously.
The range of smaller and larger rockets in Hamas’ possession has implications for the Israeli territory it can reach if given time and opportunity to fire them. So far, Israel’s anti-missile systems and its troops on the ground have kept the pace of rocket launches lower than expected since the resumption of fighting.
A graphic from the Washington DC-based Jewish Institute for National Security of America showing ... [+]
The video also shows a small fixed-wing UAV which appears to be a Hamas Shehab kamikaze drone. Similar to the Iranian Qasef drones used by the Houthis, the Shehab reportedly carries a 5 kg (11-pound) warhead.
Its pusher design likely uses a commercially available two-stroke engine and its overall construction is relatively simple. The apparent inclusion of GPS modules suggests that the Shehab can be guided in a pre-programmed fashion.
A still image from the IDF video of a Hamas weapons depot in northern Gaza showing what appears to ... [+]
How much it owes to similar Iranian designs has been debated but given Tehran’s drive to facilitate local production of missiles, rockets and drones in Gaza, Lebanon and elsewhere, links are probable rather than just possible.
The IDF’s assertion that it found the drones, missiles and other weapons near a clinic and school indicates that similar caches can be expected to be present in southern Gaza in places like the city of Khan Younis where Hamas forces are reportedly concentrated. Should it locate other weapons depots and/or more sophisticated projectiles, it will almost surely share its finds.
