[1/2] Palestinian Hamas militants take part in a rally marking the 31st anniversary of Hamas' founding, in Gaza City December 16, 2018.
In the 2008 Gaza war, Hamas rockets had a maximum range of 40 km (25 miles), but that had risen to 230 km by the 2021 conflict, he added.
For Iran, Hamas has helped it realise a years-long ambition to encircle Israel with legions of paramilitaries, including other Palestinian factions and Lebanon's Hezbollah, according to Western officials.
After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Hamas began importing rockets, explosives and other equipment from Iran, Western intelligence sources have said.
Iran seized the opportunity to co-opt Hamas in 1992 when Israel deported about 400 Hamas leaders to Lebanon, the source close to Hamas said.
Persons:
Abu Mustafa, Ali Baraka, Baraka, Israel, Gazans, Ismail Haniyeh, SHEIKH YASSIN, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, It's, Jonathan Saul, John O'Donnell, William Maclean, Pravin
Organizations:
REUTERS, Israel, Hamas, Britain's Royal United Services Institute, Jewish Institute for National Security of, European Union, Al Jazeera, U.S . State Department, Front, Liberation of Palestine, General Command, Brotherhood, Hezbollah, U.S, Thomson
Locations:
Gaza City, DUBAI, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Iranian, Lebanon, Jihad, U.S, United States, Canada, Egypt, Japan, Qatar, Tehran, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, Islam, Damascus, Lebanese, Al Aqsa, Britain, London