From The Sunday Times (UK), March 9, 2008, by Marie Colvin in Gaza City:
A Hamas leader admits hundreds of his fighters have travelled to Tehran
....Speaking on the record but withholding his identity as a target of Israeli forces, the [Hamas]commander... said Hamas had been sending fighters to Iran for training in both field tactics and weapons technology since Israeli troops pulled out of the Gaza strip of Palestinian territory in 2005. Others go to Syria for more basic training.
...So far, 150 members of Qassam have passed through training in Tehran, where they study for between 45 days and six months at a closed military base under the command of the elite Revolutionary Guard force.
...According to the commander, a further 650 Hamas fighters have trained in Syria under instructors who learnt their techniques in Iran. ...But what Hamas values most is the knowledge that comes directly from Iran. Some of it was used to devastating effect by the militant group Hezbollah against Israeli forces in Lebanon in 2006.
“They come home with more abilities that we need,” said the Hamas commander, “such as high-tech capabilities, knowledge about land mines and rockets, sniping, and fighting tactics like the ones used by Hezbollah, when they were able to come out of tunnels from behind the Israelis and attack them successfully.
...Nodding in agreement was his companion, another senior Qassam fighter, from Hamas’s manufacturing wing. ...his job entailed “cooking” – putting together the explosive mixture that Hamas inserts into Qassam rockets.....
The commander was particularly impressed with advances made using Iranian technology. “One of the things that has been helpful is that they have taught us how to use the most ordinary things we have here and make them into explosives,” he said. Such technology had been most useful of all in developing the Qassam rocket and mines deployed against Israeli tanks....
...Fundamentally...the real problem may be that much of Hamas seems willing to fight on for “liberation”, no matter how hopeless the cause.
The conflict is further complicated by the role of Iran which, by supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, has created two potential fronts for Israel....
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