Seth J. Frantzman, Columnist

Israel-Hamas War Showcased Iran’s Rocket Threat

Tehran is supplying its proxies and partners with increasingly sophisticated arms.

May 22, 2021 at 4:00 AM UTC

Seth J. Frantzman covers Middle East affairs for the Jerusalem Post. He is the author of "After ISIS: America, Iran and the Struggle for the Middle East" and executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis.

Game-changers.
Photographer: Mohammed Abed/AFP

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For the watching world, the fourth Gaza war was defined by images of rockets streaking into the night sky. As both sides take stock amid a cease-fire, one data point will leap out at military planners throughout the Middle East: Hamas fired over 4,000 projectiles in 11 days of fighting.

That is a huge increase in the rate of fire compared to the 2014 Gaza war, when Hamas fired 4,500 in 50 days. Just as alarming is the improved quality of Hamas’ arsenal: In the latest conflict, it was able to lob projectiles much farther into Israel than before. Hamas also used so-called “suicide drones” which, unlike its rockets, can be directed at specific targets.