According to a new report by The New York Times citing Israeli and Western intelligence officials and a former senior Israeli officer, Hamas has been acquiring a “significant number” of its weapons from IDF munitions that failed to explode. This information, emerging from intelligence gathered during the ongoing conflict in Gaza, has led to the realization that Israel had previously underestimated Hamas’s capability to repurpose their unexploded ammunition.

A Western military official revealed to The New York Times that a majority of the explosives used by Hamas in the current war are derived from unexploded shells and missiles originally fired by the IDF. An Israeli intelligence officer added to this, estimating that the failure rate of IDF munitions landing in Gaza could be as high as 15 percent.

The report further highlights another significant way in which Hamas has been obtaining weapons: theft from IDF bases. These stolen arms reportedly make their way to the West Bank or Gaza via the Sinai desert.

The report also details the extent of Hamas’s resourcefulness in weaponizing these materials, saying that the group is capable of sawing into warheads weighing up to 2,000 pounds to repurpose the explosives.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)