Iran has been funneling weapons to Islamist fighters at an alarming rate over the past year – some delivered by drone, a new report has found.
Rogue Middle Eastern regimes have smuggled guns and missiles into the occupied West Bank region of eastern Israel and northern Lebanon, some disguised as aid packages, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The weapons have largely been destined for Palestinian Islamic Jihad – a group entirely separate from Gaza-based Hamas, which launched a devastating terror attack on Israel on October 7 that left more than 1,400 dead.
“The flow of arms has really increased, particularly over the past year… This is because Iran has been focusing more on the West Bank recently, and trying to arm some groups there,” said Michael Horowitz, an Israel-based chief. intelligence for the consulting firm Le Beck International.
Iran’s supply route goes through Iraq and Syria, then through either Lebanon or Jordan — one of the US’s strongest allies in the region — and continues to its intended destination, according to the report.
Iran is funneling weapons into the West Bank at an alarming rate, according to a new report.Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
“Iran wants to make Jordan a transit area for weapons to go to Israel,” Amer Al-Sabaileh, founder of Security Language, an anti-terrorism think tank in Amman, told the WSJ.
“But my fear is that the weapon might be used in Jordan as well. Where is the easiest place in the Middle East to punish the US and the West? Jordan.”
Weapons smuggled through Jordan include Iranian copies of US Claymore antipersonnel mines, M4-style assault rifles, and TNT explosives, a senior Jordanian official told the media.
Israeli border forces, which occupy the West Bank, have also seized antipersonnel landmines made in Iran and Russia, according to a report from Terrogence, an information network that advises Israeli police.
A group of Islamic Jihadists pose with their weapons. Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
The weapons are typically transported from Syria to Jordan in trucks, which may be difficult to detect when they drive off-road through the desert, the WSJ said.
Iran’s scheme also uses drones: In February, Jordanian officials shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle from Syria with four grenades on board.
Even cheap commercial drones can carry two assault weapons at a time – and are difficult to capture, an unnamed Jordanian security official told the outlet.
Drones have been used to bring weapons from Iran all the way to the West Bank, according to reports. Iranian Military Office/AFP via Getty Images
“We only saw drones by chance,” he admitted.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Mahan airline has been transporting weapons to Syria under the guise of aid, a Central Intelligence Agency official and various officials told the WSJ.
“The Iranians are investing a lot of effort in igniting all arenas, in the north and the West Bank,” said a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. “The IDF is strengthening its forces and is ready for every eventuality.”
“The country is flooded with weapons,” added a gun shop owner in downtown Amman.
In May, Jordanian MP Imad al-Adwan was arrested for trying to smuggle more than 200 firearms into the West Bank, which is occupied by Israeli forces, the outlet said.
He was extradited from Israel to Jordan, where he faces 15 years in prison.
Meanwhile, other Jordanian officials are feeling the pressure to extinguish the Middle East’s gun violence by themselves.
Police operating in the West Bank have seized more weapons in recent years.AP
“Jordan plays an important role in preventing the smuggling of narcotics and weapons,” said Mohammad Afeef, former president of Jordan’s National Security Court.
“It’s a huge burden for us.”
Parts of the West Bank are controlled by the Palestinian Authority, which opposes Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the WSJ said.
Over the past two years, police working for the Palestinian Authority have seized between 600 and 1,000 weapons a year in the West Bank – more than double the number in 2021, the outlet said.
Concerns over West Bank weapons stockpiles have only increased since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas earlier this month.
Tensions are also very high in the occupied territories. Fifty-five people were killed in the week after October 7 — the deadliest week for West Bank Palestinians since 2005, according to the United Nations.
Jordan is also trying to control the region in terms of arms smuggling. via REUTERS
On Friday, 13 Palestinians were killed when the Israel Defense Forces launched a 30-hour operation to clear militants from refugee camps in the territory, the WSJ said.
An arms dealer in Al-Ram told the outlet that he sells hundreds of weapons every month, mainly to people who want to defend their homes and villages without the presence of official Palestinian security.
“There is a huge demand these days, but I tell you all they are very young,” he said.
As the Israel-Hamas war appears set for the long haul, Horowitz warned that the flow of arms to the West Bank could perpetuate a “cycle of violence” as the IDF deploys more troops to the area.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
