Alwaght- When the Israelis were busy talking to the Egyptian and Jordanian officials for disarming Hamas and other Gaza-based resistance groups, the Palestinians in their underground tunnels were working on a powerful weapon the Israeli leaders never thought of. If last year, it was the Palestinian rocket power grabbed the calm from the Israeli eyes, now the Palestinian power has added new branches, sending shivers down to the Israeli spine.
Closely monitor the military movements of the resistance in Gaza, Israeli sources have admitted that since the last Gaza war in 2021, Hamas has made great efforts to strengthen and develop more capabilities for its naval force. This enhancement of naval capabilities includes sporting high-speed boats and jetskis that allow them to launch attacks from sea to land against the Israeli settlements near the border. Reports of Hamas naval activity coincide with its announcement in recent weeks that a new naval operation has been launched with the aim of breaking the sea siege imposed on the Gazans by the Israeli occupation.
Additionally, the Israeli regime has claimed that Hamas is trying to rebuild part of the offensive and defensive tunnels equipped with a wide range of weapons, including more accurate and fatal long-range missiles, as well as anti-drone rockets. Based on the Israeli reports about Hamas and Islamic Jihad's military capabilities, if the siege of the Gaza is lifted, the Palestinians can tip the scales in their favor.
Gaza, which has been under the Israeli blockade since 2007, is disconnected from the outside world from the sea and in case of sanctions lifting it can buy and build game-changing speed boats.
A former Israeli General who voiced the Israeli feeling of threat by the achievements of the resistance groups recently said that Hamas movement prepares new and more surprises to the Israeli forces in the event of a new war.
Israeli leaders think that Hamas, should it develop naval capability, will try to target Israeli naval vessels and vital infrastructure that will enable it to control the sea and coasts.
Drone capabilities in the war equations
The Israeli fear of Hamas naval power boost comes as the group and its allies developed new drone capabilities whose effects would be demonstrated in the future wars.
The Palestinian resistance can also create some balance against the Israeli enemy in the air. If missile and drone strikes are carried out simultaneously in the occupied territories, the much-vaunted Iron Dome system will be incapable of countering them. The system, which was built with along with a massive propagandistic campaign and by spending billions of dollars, was ineffective against Gaza missiles in 2021 war and has been able to intercept only half of these missiles, and in the event of attacks by drones and missiles, its inability will become more apparent.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently admitted that the cost to the Iron Dome of intercepting Gaza missiles was not comparable to the cost of Gaza rockets. According to him, it costs $100 to build Hamas rockets, but their interception costs hundreds of thousands of dollars for Tel Aviv. "Therefore, if we assume that the Gaza missiles do not have the necessary power and quality to considerably destroy the Israeli infrastructure, they can be more successful in imposing exorbitant costs on the Israelis," he said. If hundreds of missiles are fired at the occupied territories every day, the amount of money that the Israelis will have to pay to deal with them will be damaging to their economy.
Although the Hamas and Islamic Jihad have many limitations on the development of military capabilities, they have nevertheless achieved much in the past decade. The recently unveiled drones which have entered the Palestinian military service in the past year can further unsettle the Israeli skies. Recently, the Islamic Jihad released images from the occupied territories, which were taken during Operation Sword of Al-Quds last year. This air capability will enable the Palestinians to gain a great deal of information from the Israeli military and sensitive sites in future battles, and to deal severe blows to them if the need arises.
The Palestinians even said they used drones to attack a petrochemical plant in the Negev Desert in recent months, not even felt by the Israelis, and therefore was able to mislead Israel's radar and defense systems. The weakness of the Israeli radar system is the strength of the Palestinians, whose effectiveness will be better known in future battles.
Although the Israeli army has repeatedly claimed to have shot down a number of UAVs, Israeli security experts have warned of the danger of having dozens or even hundreds of drones in Gaza with the cost of building them to less than $300 against the high cost of downing them. Therefore, given the cost-benefit of shooting down Gaza drones for Tel Aviv, it is easier to carry out air strikes on Israeli positions since they can fly in the occupied territories' skies and carry out their attacks without any engagement and disturbance from the Israeli defenses.
The Israeli leaders have always bragged about their air power in the whole region and painted themselves the highest-flyers in this area, but with the advent of resistance drones, a new equation is created that could challenge Israel's air superiority.
The resistance groups in the besieged enclave have also released videos in recent months showing the their combat units equipped with shoulder-fired missiles, officially called man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). Palestinian sources say the missiles are of the Strela type, developed by Russia. The Strela missile is a solid-fuel missile capable of destroying targets within a 4-kilometer range. The missile is equipped with a thermal sensor on its head which after firing chases the heat source and downs the helicopters in case of impact. Certainly, this type of air defense weapon can pose a threat to Israeli army helicopters and UAVs, which in past wars bombed many areas in Gaza unchallenged.
With Palestinians developing these military capabilities, the Israelis would be more vulnerable in the future battles and so would think intensively and thoroughly before waging a new war on Gaza. Perhaps it is because of this military might garnered over the past year that the Israeli leaders do not dare to start a new war on the Palestinians. After all, they felt the Palestinian resistance's fist power in last year's war and do not enter a war with uncertain end.
Gaza resistance groups' power in the past few years has been thriving, giving them quantitative and qualitative weapons enhancement. So far only having to deal with Hamas rockets, the Israeli regime has to face air, sea, and, ground Palestinian power that can transform the Palestinian deterrence thoroughly.
