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Outgoing leader says Hamas is better armed than in 2014

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Hamas’s overall leader has confirmed that he will stand down from his post and claimed that the terror group has increased its military strength in the Gaza Strip since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

Speaking at a seminar in Qatar, Khaled Mashaal, who is Hamas’s political bureau chief and effective overall leader confirmed recent speculation that he will not seek re-election.

He said: “Khaled Mashaal will be a former chief of the Hamas politburo next year.”

During the same address, Mashaal also claimed that Hamas is now better armed in the Gaza Strip than it was two years ago, prior to a month-long conflict with Israel.

He said: “What we have today in terms of resistance weapons is several times more than what we had during easier times and what we had two years ago, before Operation Protective Edge.”

It is thought that Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, Deputy Politburo Chief Mousa Abu Marzouk and Politburo member Imad al-Alami are the leading candidates to replace Mashaal in an internal election next year.

Since the 2014 conflict, Hamas is widely thought to have been replenishing its stock of missiles. It has also been reconstructing the network of underground tunnels in Gaza, which were utilised during the conflict to attack Israeli positions beyond the Gaza border. Earlier this year, two rebuilt tunnels were uncovered having burrowed into Israeli territory.

Yesterday, an IDF Southern Command official briefed journalists on Israel’s efforts to counter the tunnel threat. Work began weeks ago on construction of a 40-mile long barrier, reaching several stories underground along the length of the Gaza border. The official said that work to complete the barrier would be completed within months.

In a separate security development overnight, Israeli forces conducted several operations in the West Bank to seize illicit weaponry. They raided and closed two weapons-manufacturing workshops in Jenin and a similar facility near Hebron, uncovering pistols, rifle parts, magazines and ammunition.