JERUSALEM – A top Israeli defense official charged Tuesday that Hamas is sending hundreds of recruits to Iran to be armed and receive sophisticated combat training.
Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the training constitutes a threat against Israeli forces.
"Hundreds of Hamas members have been sent to Iran for training, and not training periods of a week, two weeks or a month, but for long-term, high-quality training," committee member MK Zvi Hendel (National Union) quoted Diskin as saying. Diskins comments were reported Tuesday in the Isaeli newspaper Haaretz.
Hendel told Haaretz that Diskin "is very concerned that in another two or three years, it will be very difficult to deal with the problem called the Gaza Strip."
Diskin reportedly told the committee that 31 tons of explosive material has been smuggled into the Gaza Strip in the last year by terror groups. According to Diskin, this was six times bigger than the largest amount to have been smuggled in recent years.
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