Naeem Mushtaha
Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ Military Wing, has been working on developing itself since its formation in 1991. It passed through several stages: from throwing stones to firing rockets that hit deep targets. However, what the political and military analysts did not expect was its shift from ‘gangs combat’ into a security and military organization that works at all levels.
Al-Qassam Brigades continued to develop itself to prove the success of its military resistance project, and to find different methods to overcome the occupation's measures aiming to reduce its striking force. In order to minimize its abilities, the occupation entered three military confrontations, it has been imposing a suffocating siege for 14 years, and it carried out several rounds of attrition which aimed to destroy the Palestinian military force. The Israeli occupation also used alternative methods such as offering international propositions; the most recent of which was allowing the entry of $15 billion dollars for the establishment of a seaport and an airport in Gaza provided Hamas becomes unarmed. Jared Kushner, US President’s Senior Advisor, proposed holding a meeting with his office in whatever capital Hamas chooses.
‘The Hidden is More Immense’ Program revealed how great the Qassam structure has become. It is no longer a military group which is not fully armed nor a group whose rocket power is bound by the opening or closure of the crossings and entry of materials necessary for manufacturing rockets and missiles. In addition, the Qassam’s naval force has changed over the course of time. The Qassam group that sneaked to Gush Katif settlement through the sea on March 25th, 2004 to capture settlers and soldiers modified its own strategies and plans, and improved them based on the factors affecting the field.
The Program’s recent episode ‘the Deal and the Weapons’ indicates a considerable improvement in the potentials of the Qassam’s naval force. The Unit discovered a WWI British warship filled with shells and military equipment which were recycled as warheads for the Sejjil rockets. The Unit, however, did not know that a bit farther from where they were another warship had sunk. Thanks to Allah’s guidance, the leadership decided to view the history books of Gaza and discovered a nearby ship. The potentials the naval force showed in extracting the equipment and shells reflected how one’s will overpowers any field or security obstacles, which generally prevent obtaining such materials. According to the interviewed military expert, it would be impossible to extract the equipment discretely, yet the Brigades did it.
The above-said means the Brigades have adopted the policy of international organizations and showed great interest in scientific research through establishing historical, political and military studies centers through which they could learn the mentality and strategy of their enemy. Hence, the Brigades function at two levels simultaneously: military force and scientific research force. This is precisely what the Jewish Agency did in Palestine in 1930. It established a studies center that examined the influential Arab figures and the history of the cities targeted by the Zionists, and prepared a futuristic perspective for them.
Surely, it was difficult to recycle the rockets and shells, which are considered as war remnants by the world, for the manufacturing of wide-range local rockets. This required bright brains, careful military and engineering ones, that could extract the explosives and dismantle the firing devices discretely.
Working together, the Brigades managed to manufacture hundreds of rockets; 78 were fired at once in a minute, breaking a record, in the May 2019 escalation; indicating the technological abilities of the resistance. It also confirms having secrets that would be revealed in the coming battle, as Ismael Haniya, Chief of Hamas’ Political Bureau, said; stressing that his Movement does not want a war, but it does not fear it from happening. He also said that the coming battle will keep everyone dumbstruck.
In addition, the extraction of the pipes that the occupation had built in the defeated settlements to steal the underground water of Gaza, and the Brigades’ grasp of such pipes amidst a suffocating siege reflects the presence of a security and military structure that can access information the occupation had buried in Gaza. Of course, it failed to bury the brains managing the military-security conflict running against it.
The Israeli occupation’s work to cut the ropes and expand the normalization circle with the Arabs in order to dry out the resistance’ sources of supplies affects the resistance’ work. Nevertheless, it is not as successful as the occupation and its followers hope for. The conflict is no longer fire-based. It has developed to become a conflict of brains in which the enemy will not win. Every time it cuts a rope, other ropes are found.
Ami Ayalon, former Director of Shabak, said that the two ground military operations which aimed to disarm the Qassam were complete failure indicating the weakness of the ‘Israeli’ military and security structures in breaching the military and security structures of Hamas. He noted that Hamas is not ‘a terrorist’ organization only; it is a creed as well.
Ayalon’s admission that Hamas is based on a creed indicates a difficult equation representing the scale of powers between the Palestinians and the ‘Israelis’, especially that the ‘Israeli’ creed is dropping and weakening among the ‘Israeli’ soldiers while the Islamic creed is prospering among the Hamas’ soldiers. The Israeli occupation has tried to plant such equation in the minds of the Arabs in general and the Palestinians in particular after 1948. It had good results in favor of the occupation during the 1967 but it soon changed during the 10th of Ramadan/ October in 1974. Although after the war, it was planted again, it fell apart in the face of the Qassam’s soldiers during the military confrontations.
‘The Hidden is More Immense’ Program revealed the development in the Iranian-Hamas relations, which were continuously under the occupation’s attempts to minimize. Mr. Haniya’s reference to the Syrian role in supporting Hamas militarily indicates historical proof of the Syrian and Sudanese role in supporting the resistance. Hamas now has a political, military and security structure that manages the phase following all methods and means, which frightens the occupation. The occupation’s rival no longer needs to travel abroad to learn how to manufacture the rockets in particular, and improve the military and security structures in general. It has, in fact, developed itself to manufacture locally.
Finally, I think Al-Qassam’s ability to execute all the above-mentioned was difficult, but it has become accessible. Al-Qassam will not be diverted from its true aims. The conflict will continue until Palestine is liberated, and the occupation will not achieve its aspirations. In fact, the quick development of Al-Qassam and its tactics only confirms the approach of the end of the Zionist project.