Hamas' Diverse Arsenal: Smuggled Weapons from Around the World Used in Intense Urban Warfare

 AP analysis reveals that Hamas has assembled a diverse arsenal of weapons from around the world, smuggled past a 17-year blockade. The weapons have been used in weeks of intense urban warfare in Gaza, leading to thousands of casualties. The majority of their arms are of Russian, Chinese, or Iranian origin, with North Korean weapons and those produced in former Warsaw Pact countries also present in the arsenal. Among the most distinctive weapons are Iranian-made sniper rifles, Soviet-era weapons copied and manufactured in Iran and China, and Italian-designed anti-tank mines which have been copied by Iran's arms industry.

The group also uses a combination of smuggled "off-the-shelf" weaponry and home-grown weapons often made with easily accessible civilian materials. The arsenal includes everything from small arms and machine guns to shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles and craft-produced anti-tank projectiles. It is believed that most of the smuggled weapons were brought in through Egypt and are generally easy to purchase. The group has also obtained or copied Iranian-designed drones that explode when crashed into their targets, and off-the-shelf, Chinese-made quadcopter drones have been adapted to drop explosives on tanks and troops.

Despite the arsenal, Israel maintains a massive advantage, with a powerful array of modern tanks, artillery, helicopter gunships, and an air force of U.S.-made fighter jets. Israel's military states it has killed several thousand Hamas militants compared to the deaths of at least 510 of its own soldiers, more than 330 of whom were killed in Hamas' initial attack. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says more than 24,000 Palestinians have died in the fighting.