Hamas militants are attempting to negotiate a new
arms deal with North Korea for missiles and communications equipment that will
allow them to maintain their offensive against Israel, according to Western
security sources.
Security officials say the deal between Hamas and
North Korea is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and is being handled by a
Lebanese-based trading company with close ties to the militant Palestinian
organization based in east Beirut.
“Hamas is looking for ways to replenish its stocks
of missiles because of the large numbers it has fired at Israel in recent
weeks,” explained a security official. “North Korea is an obvious place to seek
supplies because Pyongyang already has close ties with a number of militant
Islamist groups in the Middle East.”
Using intermediaries based in Lebanon, Hamas
officials are said to be intensifying their efforts to sign a new agreement
with Pyongyang to provide hundreds of missiles and communications
equipment that will improve the ability of Hamas fighters to coordinate
operations against Israeli forces.
Following Israel’s latest military offensive against
Hamas operatives based in Gaza, Western security officials say Hamas is now
trying to persuade North Korea to provide fresh supplies of rockets to replace
the thousands of missiles that have been fired at Israel since the commencement
of hostilities two weeks ago.
Israeli military commanders supervising operations
against Gaza believe North Korean experts have given Hamas advice on building
the extensive network of tunnels in Gaza that has enabled fighters to move
weapons without detection by Israeli drones, which maintain a constant
monitoring operation over Gaza.
The North Koreans have one of the world’s most
sophisticated network of tunnels running beneath the demilitarized zone with
South Korea, and Israeli commanders believe Hamas has used this expertise to
improve their own tunnel network.
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