Hamas terrorists fired more than 3,000 rockets and mortars into Israel during the past year, which included a cease-fire period, according to the Israel Project, a Washington- based backer of Israel.
Those Hamas weapons killed four Israelis and wounded more than 270, according to the group.
Roughly 7,000 missiles and rockets have hit Israel since 2005.
And behind this onslaught lies Iran, a nation led by a president vowing to wipe Israel off the map.
“As you know, Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which has received tens of millions of dollars in aid from Iran — a country whose president has repeatedly said he wants Israel wiped off the map,” a project statement noted.
“Terrorists are using 400-600 smuggling tunnels running along Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor – the strip of land spanning the border between Egypt and Gaza – to provide a constant supply of weapons and explosives to Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza. “In addition to firing missiles at Israeli civilians, the terrorist groups have conducted numerous attacks against the border crossings from Gaza into Israel. In 2008 alone, there have been more than 17 attacks — or attempted attacks — on the crossings.”
Iran also supplies missiles, rockets and mortars to Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon, which were used by the hundreds to attack Israel in a war two years ago.
But Israel could protect itself from the Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip if Israel would just accelerate its development of a multi-layered missile defense system. (Please see separate story in this issue.”