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Masked Hamas militants at a demonstration in Gaza last month. (AP)
Last update - 00:00 10/04/2008
Israeli think tank: Hamas has 20,000 armed men in Gaza Strip
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press
Tags: Hamas, Iran, Israel, Gaza

An Israeli think tank said in a study it released on Thursday that Hamas' military buildup is at its peak, despite the international blockade on the Gaza Strip.

In an estimate of the current strength of the militant group's forces, the think tank said Hamas had organized 20,000 armed forces and acquired long-range rockets and advanced anti-tank weapons.

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center also said that Israel's 2005 pullout from Gaza enabled the militant Palestinian group to boost its power in the coastal strip, over which it gained control in a violent takeover in June 2006.
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"The Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005 created a new situation which accelerated the establishment of an area fully controlled by Hamas. It was quick to use its increased military power to make political capital in internal Palestinian affairs," the study states.

Iran and Syria supply Hamas with weapons, technical knowhow and training, the study also stated.

Futhermore, the study said the Islamic group has smuggled 80 tons of explosives into the Gaza Strip since it seized the territory last year.

Referring to Hezbollah, the study described the Lebanese guerilla group's "success in providing an asymmetric response to the Israel Defense Forces' might" during the Second Lebanon War as having made it a role model for Hamas.

The center has close links to Israel's defense establishment and based its report on data supplied in part by the Shin Bet security service.


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    Humanitarian initiative
    There is a way for Israel to prove it is committed to universal moral values.
    Top Targets
    An Islamist site is compiling a list of U.K. Jews to target over Gaza op.
      1.   Duh ... What genuises 14:38  |  Zev 10/04/08
      2.   israel is waging a losing battle! Time is on the side of the 15:08  |  lakshmi 10/04/08
      3.   Israeli think tank 15:10  |  Al 10/04/08
      4.   I would think I was a prophet, but majority of Israelis knew. 15:16  |  Straight Talk 10/04/08
      5.   How it was at that time... 15:21  |  Esther 10/04/08
      6.   Wake up Lefties and the face harsh reality - not wishful fantasy 15:27  |  Avi 10/04/08
      7.   If there is a reason Olmert should resign, it`s this 16:02  |  IW 10/04/08
      8.   Lakshimi and partition lines 16:04  |  judith 10/04/08
      9.   Esther? salaams 16:05  |  Assad-u-LLAH 10/04/08
      10.   Lakshmi, what will it take for you to use basic 16:07  |  Herman Riseman 10/04/08
      11.   lakbrain #2 16:22  |  X` 10/04/08
      12.   Obviously. 16:22  |  Vital 10/04/08
      13.   #2. Lakshmi 16:26  |  Deborah 10/04/08
      14.   Shows Olmert/Barak is a failed government 16:40  |  Kipperraes 10/04/08
      15.   #13 RE: Lakshmi`s rants 16:42  |  DR 10/04/08
      16.   When will Leftist Haaretz editors apologise for pushing Itnatkut? 17:07  |  Another Jew 10/04/08
      17.   To2. Nobody dreams. 17:09  |  Vital 10/04/08
      18.   9 Judith,wrong! The Partition Line is there because that is the 17:29  |  lakshmi 10/04/08
      19.   Re Assad #10 18:17  |  Esther 10/04/08
      20.   Only 20,000? 18:20  |  Harold 10/04/08
      21.   SO ! What`s the point of the think tank? 18:24  |  Joe 10/04/08
      22.   Addendum for Assad #10 18:29  |  Esther 10/04/08
      23.   cousin esther: 18:41  |  Assad-u-LLAH 10/04/08
      24.   esther? hamas is building a deteren to zionist terror 18:48  |  Assad-u-LLAH 10/04/08
      25.   Less think, more tank. 18:58  |  Mark 10/04/08
      26.   I have a change of heart: Israel cannot be beaten 18:58  |  lakshmi 10/04/08
      27.   Re Assad #24 19:12  |  Esther 10/04/08
      28.   i love playing stupid to discourrage any meaningfull discusion 19:57  |  Esther 10/04/08
      29.   Re #29... the fake, needless to say... 21:15  |  Esther 10/04/08
      30.   Arab arms 21:34  |  Shoshana 10/04/08
      31.   Level Gaza then rebuild it. 22:06  |  James 10/04/08
      32.   Assad u lah 22:10  |  Mae White 10/04/08
      33.   Deborah #12 22:12  |  Mae White 10/04/08
      34.   Lakshi 22:14  |  Mae White 10/04/08
      35.   contract law 101 for Lakshmi 22:30  |  the truth 10/04/08
      36.   Deborah 22:54  |  TonyL 10/04/08
      37.   20,000 Armed in Gaza 23:07  |  Cyasher 10/04/08
      38.   # 16 DR: explanation re: lakshmi 23:33  |  Darth Zaider (Ed) 10/04/08
      39.   #31 Mae White 23:47  |  Labhras 10/04/08
      40.   No peace, means war and that`s what Hamas is doing... 23:48  |  Dutch Dirk 10/04/08
      41.   How many generations does it take to pinpoint 20,000 hamas 23:53  |  Chelm Youngster 10/04/08
      42.   gazans have nothing to loose. Israel must attack for peace sake. 00:06  |  Joey 11/04/08
      43.   Mae White? it was NOT one small experiance 00:24  |  Assad-u-LLAH 11/04/08
      44.   80 tons of explosives !!! 00:27  |  Akiva P 11/04/08
      45.   Millions will join Hamas if Israel does not make peace! 00:51  |  Todd 11/04/08
      46.   Jews want their cake and eat it. Thats why there is no peace! 00:54  |  American 11/04/08
      47.   Don`t treat Hamas as terrorists..... 00:57  |  R 11/04/08
      48.   Open your eyes, your heart, your mind---and look at the whole pic 01:12  |  Akiva P 11/04/08
      49.   Dear Terrorism Information Centre. Why not condemn govt. for insa 01:53  |  Chaim 11/04/08
      50.   Gaza, think of it as a sardine can 01:54  |  * BEN JABO 11/04/08
      51.   #29 Esther. Your "playing stupid" has been so convincing. 01:59  |  Chaim 11/04/08
      52.   Toward What End? 03:53  |  Arnold Shore 11/04/08
      53.   20,000 men plus tens of thousands of children primed for martrdom 04:34  |  PETER SM 11/04/08
      54.   ASSAD.A`Bishop Tutu is VERY selective in his outrage 04:42  |  PETER SM 11/04/08
      55.   #42 American - (Ye Gads yet another one) 05:39  |  * BEN JABO 11/04/08
      56.   We trust them 05:56  |  A gazian 11/04/08
      57.   GOOD! 06:00  |  Murray of Montreal 11/04/08
      58.   build up in gaza and lebanon 07:03  |  messenger from "H" 11/04/08
      59.   They manage to smuggle 1000s of people & weapons back & forth 07:03  |  Global Citizen 11/04/08
      60.   Time to kick the nazi-zions 07:16  |  Niva dos santos 11/04/08
      61.   ALL TIME HIGH 07:50  |  indrajaya 11/04/08
      62.   20,000 Hamas Soldiers 09:01  |  Reid 11/04/08
      63.   American 46 - those greedy Jews again 10:02  |  ChanahS 11/04/08
      64.   #56 A Gazian