By Ola Attallah, IOL Correspondent
GAZA CITY � The recent Israeli war on Gaza, which killed and wounded thousands and wrecked havoc on the civilian infrastructure, was marketed on the pretext of undermining the capacities of resistance factions, particularly Hamas.
But before withdrawing, the invading Israeli troops left Palestinian fighters a priceless gift: a large cache of unexploded ordnance.
"A considerable number of the Israeli bombs, shells and missiles fired during the war did not explode," Abu Moaez, a member of Ezzeddin Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, told IslamOnline.net.
For three weeks, Israeli air, naval and ground troops rained the densely-populated coastal enclave of 1.6 million with tons of explosives.
Many of the thousands of rockets, bombs and shells fired did not explode.
"Nearly 5 percent of the Israeli bombs that fell on Gaza did not detonate," Abu Anas, an Ezzeddin Al-Qassam Brigades weapons expert, told IOL.
"This is due to technical problems related to the detonation devices."
A UN team of international bomb disposal experts has been working in Gaza for the last three weeks to neutralize unexploded munitions dropped during Israel's offensive.
They found three 2,000-pound (900 kilogram) bombs and eight 500-pound (230 kilogram) bombs dropped by Israeli warplanes.
Their work is being held up because Israel has not approved the entry of their equipment nor an area for storing and neutralizing ordnance.
Treasure
The unknown number of unexploded munitions threaten to set off another wave of maiming and killing in the impoverished Palestinian territory.
But for the resistance factions they present a valuable treasure.
"This is a gift from heaven," says Abu Moaez, the Hamas fighter.
"We have collected and dismantled many of the unexploded ordnance," he added.
"They will be recycled and used in defending our people against the Israeli occupation forces."
Abu Al-Baraa, a member of Saraya Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, said dealing with the unexploded devices requires special skills.
"This is a job that should be done by highly-experienced and trained weaponry experts," he told IOL.
"Our engineers are qualified for the task and we have already done that."
Resistance factions have recently held an unprecedented exhibition for these weapons in Gaza city.
The displayed collections including one-ton, half-ton and 250-kilogram bombs as well as anti-tank missiles, illumination rounds and anti-tank mines.
"We used to manufacture our weaponry from primitive materials, but now we have more effective substance extracted from the Israeli weapons," explains Abu Mosaab, another Al-Qassam weapons expert.
"This will help us make a momentum leap."[islamonline.net]
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