Hamas' plan for next war: Frequent attacks on Tel Aviv area
Islamist group building its strength in preparation for next conflict,
producing medium-range M-75 rockets at fast pace; Israel still prefers Hamas
over extremist Salafist regime in Gaza

Elior Levy YNET Published: 10.29.13, 09:49 / Israel News
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4446852,00.html

The Shalit prisoner exchange deal and last year's war against Israel led to
a spike in the popularity of Hamas, which also enjoyed the support of the
Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. But the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed
Morsi by the Egyptian army plunged Hamas into one of its most difficult
periods in recent years, while the Palestinian Authority is credited with
the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. However, it is too
soon to count Hamas out.

The Islamist group is building its strength in preparation for future
conflicts with Israel. Its goal is to keep these wars as short as possible.
Hamas' military build-up includes amassing M-75 rockets, which have a range
of 70 kilometers (43 miles) and can reach the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area. It
is safe to assume that as opposed to last year's conflict with Israel,
during the next war the firing of medium-range rockets from Gaza will not be
sporadic.

The next war between Israel and Hamas will be different. The Islamist group
currently has only a number of M-75 rockets in its possession, but
production is continuing at a fast pace. Hamas also has hundreds of
anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

While the Egyptian army has destroyed dozens of tunnels on the Egypt-Gaza
border, most of them were used to smuggle petrol and construction material.
It appears that the tunnels used to smuggle arms into Gaza sustained much
less damage.

Relations between Hamas and the regime in Egypt remain tense, but Cairo is
apparently not looking to overthrow the Hamas regime in Gaza. Instead, it
will probably seek a "cold" peace with Gaza, similar to the peace that
existed during former President Hosni Mubarak's reign. Israel also believes
that Hamas is preferable to an extremist Salafist regime in Gaza. The
chances that the PA will regain control over the Strip remain slim.

Contrary to previous reports, it appears that Mohammed Deif heads Hamas'
military wing. Marwan Issa, who replaced Ahmed Jabari after the latter was
killed by Israel, serves as Deif's deputy.

Unlike Hamas, the PA enjoys broad international support and is engaged in
serious peace talks with Israel. It remains unclear whether the sides will
be able to reach an agreement on the core issues – such as Jerusalem and the
refugees – but the talks have led to a dramatic breakthrough: Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas no longer rejects the possibility of reaching an
interim deal with Israel, which may determine the borders with Israel and
upgrade the PA's status in the UN to a member state.

You can contact Elior Levy, Ynet's Palestinian Affairs Correspondent, at:
paldesk@gmail.com