Officials said Hamas has been using agents from Europe, Israel and the
West Bank to help facilitate the Chinese weapons procurement. On April 26, a
Palestinian man from the West Bank city of Hebron was indicted on charges of
trying to purchase weapons for Hamas, Middle East Newsline reported.>
Saadi Jamjum, a 33-year-old car dealer, was alleged to have traveled to
China for Hamas in March 2009. The indictment said Jamjum was asked by a
Hamas agent, identified as Raid Abu Hatlah, to purchase 60 telescopic rifle
sights, 2,000 M-16 rifle magazines, 2,000 additional gun clips, 1,000
radios, 400 mobile phones and dozens of listening devices.
The indictment said the Chinese weapons were to have been shipped to the
Gaza Strip via cargo registered as containing toys. To enhance the
credibility of the shipment, Jamjum was ordered by Abu Hatlah, a resident of
the Gaza Strip, to purchase thousands of dollars of toys from a Chinese
factory.
The Chinese suppliers of the weapons allegedly ordered by Jamjum were
not identified.
Officials said Hamas has sought to diversify its military suppliers in
wake of the 22-day war with Israel. So far, Iran and Hizbullah have been
virtually the sole suppliers to the Hamas regime.
