Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that an Israeli security official said that Palestinian weapons experts who have undergone training in Lebanon, Syria and possibly Iran have recently entered the Gaza Strip.
According to the official, several Palestinians who were trained by the Lebanon based Hezbollah party and the Iranians, have entered the Gaza Strip recently, apparently from the Sinai.
Haaretz quoted a security official claiming that, in the past, vast technological knowledge has been transmitted via the Internet or via memory chips used in laptop computers.
In a few cases, the Shin Bet security service has managed to keep Palestinian and Israeli Arab countries from smuggling instructions for manufacturing weapons into the territories.
The official added that even when instructions to manufacture weapons and explosives became available to the Palestinian fighters, they decided to use the help of weapon experts
"Most of the experts are Hamas members who specialize in making explosive devices and improving high-trajectory weapons – specifically, building warheads and improving the rockets’ aerodynamics", the official claimed.
The Israeli intelligence believes that Hamas is primarily concerned with upgrading its operational ability ahead of a possible renewed confrontation with Israel. Yet, Hamas has been urging the Palestinian factions to maintain calm in the Palestinian territories since the truce was declared February last year.
Also, Israeli military intelligence officials said that they received unconfirmed reports stating that improved Katyusha rockets have been smuggles into the Gaza Strip; the rockets have 20-kilomter range and 6.3 kilogram warhead.
Israel claims that Hezbollah party has initiated most of the attacks in the occupied territories in 2003 and 2004 by funding several organizations and handing them general instructions for the attacks which were mainly carried by Fateh and the Islamic Jihad, according to Israeli security officials.
