A woman at Gaza’s Nasser Eddin Brigades camp trains on a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher.
Israel Seen
By Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute
While a woman in Gaza is barred from smoking in a café, or walking in public unaccompanied by a male relative, she is permitted to join a military training camp. In the next war, Hamas and its allies will not be able to claim that these are civilians killed by Israel.
It is also worth noting that Hamas and the other armed groups always find the money to buy weapons and ammunition and run military training camps.
Hamas wants the international community to fund the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip under the pretext that it does not have the resources to participate in the effort. But when it comes to arming and training women and teenagers, Hamas and other Palestinian groups always seem to find enough money.
Yet this does not stop Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority from pursuing their effort to convince the world to support a Palestinian state where women and teenagers are being trained to become the next “martyrs” in the fight to destroy Israel.
It is not easy to be a woman living under the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip.
Women face many restrictions, including not being able to go to the beach alone or even smoke in a public place. In addition, it is forbidden for a woman to be seen in public with a man who is not her husband, father or brother.
Women are also forced to adhere to a strict Islamic dress code in public, which includes a cloak and a veil covering their hair (hijab), especially at university and college campuses and work offices.
However, these severe restrictions do not apply to women who are prepared to become “martyrs” in the fight against Israel. So while a woman is barred from smoking in a café or restaurant, or walking in public unaccompanied by a male relative, she is permitted to join a military training camp in preparation for war against Israel.
So far, 40 Palestinian women have “graduated” from the military training camps, while another 40 are still being taught how to become jihadis and sacrifice their lives for the sake of wiping Israel off the face of the earth.
The training camps are being organized by the Nasser Eddin Brigades, the armed wing of a group called the “Popular Resistance Committees,” responsible, since its founding in 2001, for hundreds of terror attacks against Israel.
Although this group is not directly linked to Hamas, its members often operate in coordination with it and other radical organizations in the Gaza Strip.
The Nasser Eddin Brigades, which is now recruiting women as “soldiers,” claims that its members took part in the Hamas abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit nine years ago.
Woman at Gaza’s Nasser Eddin Brigades training camp pose with rifles, a machine-gun, and a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher
Israel Seen
Like Hamas, the Nasser Eddin Brigades do not believe in equality between women and men in all aspects of life. They believe that a woman’s role should be limited to raising her children, serving her husband faithfully and keeping her home clean.
But if a woman is prepared to die in the fight against Israel, she suddenly receives a different kind of treatment and is given more rights, including the right to be away from her husband and children. Even more, these women are granted the right to be in the company of men who are not close relatives, and who train them how to become part of the jihad against Israel.
According to a report by the Hizbullah TV station Al-Manar, “these mothers have joined the jihad, leaving their children for many hours in order to devote their time and effort” to undergoing military training. “Their goal is to liberate Palestine,” states the report.
One of the women, who identified herself as Um Sabri, told the TV correspondent that she decided to join the training camps after she recently saw her husband do the same. The mother of three said that her decision to join the jihad camps does not interfere with her duties toward her husband and children.
The latest effort to recruit women as fighters against Israel follows Hamas’s move to form a new army that consists largely of Palestinian teenagers aged 15-21. Last month, Hamas boasted that it has recruited some 17,000 youths to its “Liberation Army” as part of the battle to eliminate Israel and “liberate” Jerusalem and all of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
ALLIANCE TRACKER:
Israeli Military Sales
Major Israeli defense contractors displayed some of their latest innovations at the Aero India 2015 conference in Bangalore earlier this month, helping to highlight Israel’s growing defense partnership with India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi toured the exhibition with visiting Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. Rafael showcased its Spike 250 electro-optical homing air-to-surface guided bomb, the C-Dome Iron Dome-based missile interceptor adapted for ships, and numerous other missiles and drones.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) signed a cooperation agreement with the Indian firm Alpha Design Technologies to produce new miniature drones. The two companies will market and produce the hand-launched Bird-Eye 400 and 650 for Indian buyers. Currently, there are defense contracts totalling around $1.5 billion under negotiation between Israel and India including the sale of two specially configured Phalcon AEW&C and four EL/M-2083.
Israeli Defense Minister Ya’alon meets with Indian Prime Minister Modi on February 18, 2015. (Israel MoD)
Israeli Military Technology
IAI completed testing its M-19HD optics array, increasing the camera sensitivity of unmanned aerial vehicles, such as the Heron-1. The new system enables day/night surveillance in any weather condition, increases image stabilization, and provides better signal processing to improve the surveillance capabilities and situational awareness of long-endurance drones.
The IDF is installing Aquashield Diver Detection Sonar along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. The system, which can detect underwater objects, should help the military locate infiltrators before they come ashore. A similar DIST-built sonar is already deployed near Gaza, where Hamas commandos raided a beach near Kibbutz Zikim last summer.
Israel’s Home Front Command has begun updating the country’s civil alert infrastructure with a newer, more sophisticated network of air raid sirens designed to make alerts more localized. Civil defense planners hope assigning IP addresses to individual sirens, will allow them to alert specific neighborhoods to rocket fire instead of entire cities. More accurate radar arrays will also assist in sending cell phone alerts to communities under attack.
The IDF will begin deploying armed unmanned ground vehicles to patrol the border with Gaza later this year. Officials plan to replace the Guardium with Border Patroller, a modified Ford F-350 Super Duty Truck, manufactured through the joint venture between IAI and Elbit Systems.
Egypt Watch
The Pentagon awarded BAE Systems a $221 million contract to perform support and logistics for F-16s in Egypt, Oman, Morocco and other countries. Meanwhile, a firm associated with Pratt & Whitney will remanufacture F-16 engines for Egypt, Jordan and other U.S. allies at a cost of $17 million to foreign governments.
Egypt signed an agreement with France to buy 24 Rafale fighter jets, a naval frigate, and other support services in a deal worth $5.7 billion.
War on ISIS
The U.S. military is constructing a new airbase near Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to reports from Peshmerga fighters. Several Black Hawk helicopters are already deployed to the facility, which will support surveillance missions, but not attack aircraft.
Israel Watch
Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot was sworn in as Chief of the IDF’s General Staff on February 16th, replacing Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz. Eisenkot has served in the military since 1978 and led infantry units in the Army’s northern command. His first act as IDF Chief extended the terms of other senior military officers, enabling a younger generation of major-generals to replace them in 2016.
Turkey Watch
Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz announced that Ankara does not plan to integrate a new Chinese made missile defense system into NATO’s radar and response network. In September 2013, Turkey elected to purchase $3.4 billion in missile interceptors from the U.S.-sanctioned China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp.
Gulf Watch
More than 4,000 troops with from Fort Carson, CO will be deployed to Kuwait, creating the largest contingent of U.S. armored and infantry soldiers in the Middle East. The 3rd Combat Brigade will take Bradley fighting vehicles with them.
Israel Seen
Troops walk in front of a cargo plane at Fort Carson. (Photo: Fort Carson Facebook)
A Russian or Ukrainian cargo vessel reportedly delivered three Sukhois jets to Houthis militiamen in Yemen. According to media reports, the planes were likely purchased from Belarus.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt conducted a joint naval exercise in the Red Sea named Morgan 15. The trainings, which included several destroyers, missile boats, anti-submarine aircraft, and special forces, focused on countering smuggling and piracy operations and preparing sailors for interceptions at sea.
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia restarted talks to supply the Kingdom with new ships for its Eastern Fleet. According to Defense News, Saudi Arabia delivered a formal letter of request detailing their wish to spend over $20 billion on four new frigates with anti-aircraft capabilities, 12 corvette class ships, 24 patrol boats, and helicopters. Separately, reports also suggest Riyadh is trying to acquire new surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and British-made cruise missiles to counter Iran’s growing military capability.
Israel Seen
