At this point, with both an Israeli and Egyptian blockade, is it at all possible for the Gaza military forces to be re-supplied with weapons from 3rd parties, particularly rockets? Transporting a rocket looks cumbersome.
They smuggle them in from Egypt. Up until the coup last year, Egypt’s Brtherhood government was sympathetic to Hamas (an offshoot organization). There are still plenty of sympathizers in Egypt and around the middle east. The military has ben looking to shut down smuggling tunnels originating in the Egyptian Sinai, but corruption and sympathizers probably allow some tunnels to be missed and new ones to be dug… and necessary supplies to make rockets are smuggled in.
Unlike the West Bank, Gaza has a border with Egypt that Israel has no direct control over.
Obviously, this is a lot slower than simply trucking in material by the container-load, but based on the number of missiles they fired already, it eventually does the job. Plus some materials (like concrete and wires for tunnel construction) are diverted from legitimate civilian use.
The rockets are small, many only 4 or 5 feet tall and not that big around. Probably fit in a donkey cart, under a tarp or covered with farm produce.
At this point they can manufacture some of their own. Probably not the better ones, though. But they’re always working to improve.
Yes, I have read about the tunnels from Sinai, but how does material get to Sinai in the first place? I imagine toting product across Egypt might be a bit weird. I notice Sinai has lots of sea access, perhaps things come to the peninsula by sea.
There’s a highway, and a number of settlements along the Egyptian Mediterranean coast. many of the tunnels start in Egyptian buildings a few hundred yards from the Gaza border.
There’s a lot of material that comes into Gaza legitimately, too. The whole reason the rockets are so primitive is that generally they are home made. This is where Likud has pretty much shot themselves in the foot (and the Gazans, in the head). With the amount of destruction, there will be a massive amount of new material imported to rebuild the destroyed buildings, and most of the larger parts of the rockets are fabricated. I imaging sheet metal will be in great demand to build roofs as well as rocket tubes. Metalworking tools and welders have legitimate uses too. Wires, too, will be needed for both purposes. Farmers supporting Gaza’s 2M population need all the fertilizer they can get, and everyone needs diesel fuel. Hamas will probably be rearming the moment the dust settles. Rich supporters in places like Qatar and Iran ensure they have the money.
Smaller pieces will be hid inside legitimate cargo, and for some pieces, I’m sure the Egyptian locals don’t mind driving a hidden cargo of parts from Cairo to Rabah in their trunk for a fairly high remuneration. The USA with all its high tech can’t stop drug smuggling, how would the Egyptian forces, even if not bribed, stop the flow of everything useful?
it may take labour to make the rockets (and tunnels) but the one thing nobody’s short of there is free labour in a place where unemployment is 33% or more.
Some of the rockets were made in Iran. I wonder if any are smuggled from the sea. I recall news stories were the Israelis were stopping ships making for the Gaza Strip.
Don’t assume that the rockets have to be transported fully assembled. Even if they’re not being manufactured in Gaza (and some of them probably are), some rockets are probably being disassembled, smuggled into Gaza, then reassembled there.
I’m not starting up with you, but I find it odd that you affect such a familiarity with internal Israeli politics that something in the platform of the ruling political party is germane to the immediate situation. If you are familiar with the current statements of the other parties that differ, then I would understand.