Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorists were responsible for breaking into the warehouse of the Pal Tel phone company in the Zweida neighborhood of Gaza, according to sources who spoke with TPS.
The equipment stolen by the terrorist organization was intended to rebuild and develop Hamas’s communications system after it was hit in an Israeli air strike, according to the news outlet.
Sources told TPS that Izz al-Din al-Qassam fighters from the Hamas combat wing broke into the warehouses five days ago, stealing communications equipment worth NIS 15 million, with Hamas personnel standing at an observation post nearby.
The equipment, including copper cables, routers and hubs, was loaded onto trucks and according to one source, was transferred to a Hamas facility on Saladin Street. A Hamas switchboard was also operating near the warehouses, where an explosion killed six terrorists a year and a half ago.
Another source in the Gaza Strip added that this is the second incident of a break-in into the Pal Tel warehouses by Hamas terrorists, who are working to build an elaborate communications system in the organization’s tunnels while trying to repair the infrastructure damaged by IDF attacks.
The source said that since Israel bombed the Hamas tunnels, and especially during Israel’s counter terrorism operation in Khan Younis last November, Hamas has focused on restoring its communications system.
Since some of the infrastructure equipment has been missing, Hamas terrorists have resorted to breaking into the warehouses of legitimate communications business owners.
Because Hamas cannot obtain telecommunications equipment from private suppliers its terrorist leaders send their soldiers to steal from the media company, which is also unable to report the incident because Hamas rules the Strip.
Hamas cannot import the equipment itself from outside the enclave because it is not used by the private sector; its import into Gaza Strip would certainly reveal the terror group’s attempts to rebuild its military infrastructure.
The hapless communications company, preyed upon by the ruling terrorist organization, now fears Israel will ban the import of additional equipment into the Gaza Strip and ruin what is left of its business.
Hana Levi Julian contributed to this report.