DAMNING proof was shown to The Sun yesterday that Hamas terror chiefs who masterminded Israel’s 9/11 used a devastating cache of weapons supplied by Iran.
We were invited to a secret military base in southern Israel and shown the chilling firepower used in the October 7 rampages which left 1,400 Jews dead.
The arsenal of evil included AK-47s, warheads, hand grenades, mines, improvised explosive devices, timers and “suicide drones”.
The hardline Islamic state, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei provided thermobaric grenades which were lobbed into homes and incinerated everyone inside within seconds.
Israeli troops who fought running battles with Hamas gunmen also recovered Iranian-made mortar rockets and mines.
They were laid out on the floor of a vast hangar but represented just a fraction of the weaponry used in an attack that shocked the world.
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A Major in Israel’s crack bomb disposal unit, his face covered and his name withheld for operational reasons, is convinced Tehran was involved.
Gripping one of several thermobaric grenades in his hands the officer, who we are identifying only as Major G, told me: “What you see here we brought from our villages.
“This is not from inside Gaza.
“Hamas brought all of these weapons into Israel on October 7.
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“This is a small proportion of what we found in the battlezone and about 15 per cent are Iranian-made.
“These are their mortars, their fuses and their explosives.
“They were made in Iran and brought into the Gaza Strip before being used by Hamas.”
Other missiles, including rocket propelled grenades, recovered from the killing fields were made in North Korea.
In total, Major G reckons the terror group were armed with 500 rocket propelled grenades, around 200 IEDs and more than 1,000 AK-47s.
They are believed to have planned the attack for two years and stockpiled their weapons in the underground tunnels of Gaza.
Hamas commanders set up bomb-making factories in residential apartment blocks.
They gathered intelligence, drew up maps and held top secret training camps ahead of their assault on the innocent.
It was then through the sprawling 311-miles of the so-called Gaza Metro that they headed undetected to the border with Israel.
Then they unleashed their savagery.
Men, women and children were slaughtered in their homes in the hours that followed.
As well as those killed, a further 3,300 were wounded and more than 240 hostages dragged away.
Major G added: “They prepared for this for around two years.
“Everything we found was used by Hamas to kill innocent people in our villages like Be-eri, Kfar Aza and Nahal Oz.
“You can put a fuse in this thermobaric grenade and just throw it into a room.
“Hamas terrorists threw this on civilians, in houses in Be-eri, Kfar Aza and Nahal Oz.
“It is an explosive device that produces 3,000 degrees centigrade in just one second.
“You just need to throw it into the room and it burns to ashes.
“They burned women, children and soldiers I was there.
“I saw it during the first week of the war.
“When Hamas raided our villages they came here to stay.
“They brought food, medical equipment and tons of weapons.
“We knew they were preparing for it, we just didn’t believe they would do it.”
The Sun joined troops in Gaza and saw first-hand the stockpile of missiles hidden within civilian neighbourhoods.
And we watched as they blew up a shipping container packed with 20 missiles — each one with a range of up to 120 miles.
The Israeli Defence Force is now going from building to building in northern Gaza in search of more.
Last night, the 7th Brigade Combat Team raided properties linked to Hamas terror chief Yahya Sinwar and killed 30 of his fighters.
Inside they found dozens more weapons, missiles, drones, mortars, maps and communication devices.
An IDF spokesman said: “They also located operating and calibration systems for anti-aircraft rockets.
“The systems were located near a rocket launcher intended to hit Israel.”
Intense fighting continues in the heart of Gaza City with Israeli troops surrounding the Al Shifa hospital.
Hamas is believed to have built a command centre below its wards and operating theatres — using both patients and medics as a human shield.
Israeli tanks approached from the north and south, supported by airstrikes and artillery shelling.
The terror group continued to fire rockets into Israel yesterday but each one was downed by the country’s Iron Dome air defence system.
Two people were hurt in Tel Aviv by falling shrapnel.
Meanwhile Israel agreed to daily four-hour pauses in fighting to allow Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza to flee south via two humanitarian corridors.
The US backed the move as a “significant step” — but it is not yet clear when it will begin.
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Mobile phone footage obtained from Palestinian telegram channels have shown an exodus as thousands escaped on foot.
Hundreds more foreign nationals were also expected to make their way into Egypt via the Rafah Crossing.
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Paul Sims
