Hamas developing UAVs

There are worries in Israel that Hamas and Hezbollah are planning a spectacular terrorist attack sometime in the month of May, during which Israel will be celebrating its 60th anniversary. The following story is going to make the Israelis even more worried. Egyptian authorities reportedly arrested members of the Muslim Brotherhood Islamist organization for providing the Hamas terrorist group with components used to build pilotless drone aircraft. Aaron Klein writes in WorldNetDaily that in May 2006 Hamas was seeking the ability to attack Israel using small pilotless airplanes laden with explosives. Last week the state-run Al-Ahram Egyptian daily quoted security officials stating Egyptian forces detained four people and accused them of plotting to buy fuel and a remote control device for a small pilotless aircraft for Hamas. The newspaper said some equipment for the aircraft was already acquired and was transferred to the Gaza Strip, which borders Egypt. The goal of the aircraft initiative was to manufacture aerial drones to be fitted with explosives that would be detonated by remote control.

Two of those detained were Muslim Brotherhood members. Hamas was founded in 1987 as a military offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. Israel in the past has reportedly had numerous security alerts involving plots to fly aircraft into skyscrapers, including Tel Aviv’s two Azrieli towers. In February 2003 six Hamas members were reportedly killed in a blast while filling a small aircraft with explosives. Security reports at the time said Hamas planned to fly the airplane by remote control into an Israeli target. Hamas leaders blamed Israel for the explosion.