The Iran-Gaza Axis Is Not New

Iran attempted to establish a beachhead in Gaza much before Hamas and Ahmadinejad.

A new study published today shows that Hamas “is engaged in the broadest and most significant military buildup in its history with help from Syria and Iran,” in the words of the New York Times.

Kudos to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center for their new study, Hamas’ Military Buildup in the Gaza Strip.

But analysts err when they focus only on Hamas; Iran deserves the main spotlight. Iran sees itself as a growing regional superpower. As the American military learned in Iraq, Iran will use whatever proxy is available in order to attack Western interests in the region. In the case of the Palestinians, the Islamic Republic worked closely with Yasser Arafat for decades, particularly after the Oslo agreements granted Arafat a foothold in the Palestinian territories. Arafat’s relationship with Ayatollah Khomeini predates the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Former CIA senior officer Robert Baer details the Iranian-Palestinian relationship in See No Evil, The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA’s War on Terrorism. “Arafat had put his entire worldwide terrorist network at Iran’s disposal,” Baer pointed out. “Having been forced out of Beirut in 1982 by the Israelis, he had handed it over lock, stock, and barrel to the Iranians for safekeeping.”

The liaison between Arafat and Iran was none other than master terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, a former member of Arafat’s Force 17, the mastermind of anti-American bombings in Lebanon, the man behind the bombings of Israeli and Jewish institutions in Argentina, and the alleged chief planner for the Hizbullah war against Israel.

Once Arafat established his beachhead in Gaza, Mughniyeh set about to arm it with Iranian weapons – seven years ago.

Click here to look at the inventory of the Santorini and Karine-A ships captured by Israel in 2001 and 2002, respectively. It includes the same weaponry smuggled into Gaza over the last year and now being used against Israeli civilians. Pay particular attention to the Grad 122 mm rockets and the 120 mm mortars. Those were fired against Ashkelon last month. And don’t ignore the shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles and the anti-tank Saggers which are presumably now in the Palestinian arsenal and will be used sooner, rather than later.

Israel’s vigilance in 2001 and 2002 blocked the delivery of the weapons to Arafat’s forces. The surrender of the Philadelphi route between Sinai and Gaza two years ago opened the gates above and below ground for the weapons to flood in.

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