Palestinian resistance factions are increasingly relying on mortar guns in their attacks on Israeli targets amid the ongoing Israeli onslaught on the blockaded Gaza Strip.
"The resistance realizes that mortar shells are their mightiest and most effective weapon against Israel at this point," Wassef Erekat, a Palestinian military expert and retired general, told Anadolu Agency.
He said mortar shells were more accurate than locally manufactured rockets – and they inflict more damage.
"Resistance factions – particularly the Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas – want to deliver the message to Israel that their attacks will intensify unless the years-long siege on Gaza is lifted," said Erekat.
A four-year-old Israeli boy was killed last week after a mortar shell fired from Gaza struck his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
Thousands of Israelis have reportedly fled their homes in communities near Gaza since Israel unleashed its onslaught on the coastal enclave in early July.
Since July 7, Israel has pounded the blockaded Gaza Strip with the stated aim of halting rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.
At least 2133 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed and nearly 11,000 others injured in relentless Israeli attacks, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Thousands of homes across the beleaguered enclave, meanwhile, have been partially or completely destroyed by devastating Israeli bombardments.
Over the same period, 64 Israeli troops have been killed in combat operations in Gaza, while four civilians were killed in rocket attacks on Israel, according to Israeli figures.
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Erekat said mortar guns were difficult for Israel to locate.
"The Israelis do not know where these shells are launched from. And if they put boots on the ground to try and find the launching sites, they will sustain more losses," the Palestinian expert added.
A high-ranking Israeli Air Force officer told Haaretz earlier this week that there was no way – whether from air or ground – to completely stop mortar shells from being fired from Gaza.
"Mortar fire is the main threat that harms us," he said, adding that the Israelis were now focused on gathering intelligence on launch sites.
Palestinian resistance fighters are now launching mortar shells and rockets from inside tunnels – not from open areas as they did previously.
A group of AA reporters recently toured the tunnels used by the Al-Qassam Brigades to fire mortars, especially since Israel began staging ground operations in the beleaguered strip on July 17.
Reporters were shown the anti-tank rockets and Russian-made "Konkurs" missiles used by the brigades – especially in Gaza City's Shujaya neighborhood – to target Israeli tanks and other heavy equipment.
One brigades fighter revealed that tunnels in the area had been used to target an Israeli army jeep on the strip's eastern border with an anti-tank missile.
He said the attack had left three Israeli troops dead and two others injured.
Inside another tunnel, brigades fighters showed AA reporters a mortar gun used to shell Israeli forces as they attempted to enter Shujaya.
They said tunnels used for firing mortars were located in almost every part of the coastal enclave.
Israel began ground operations in the Gaza Strip on July 17 – the 12th day of its ongoing "Operation Protective Edge."
The Israeli army pulled its ground troops out of the Gaza Strip on August 5.
By Ola Attalah
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en/WORLD
