There are grave concerns among the defense establishment about the possibility that Hamas' military wing in the Gaza Strip is now in possession of Sagger anti-tank missiles.

Recently, Hamas and other Palestinian paramilitary groups have stepped up their efforts to acquire more advanced anti-tank weaponry. This stems, in part, from the relative success of Hezbollah guerrillas armed with anti-tank missiles against infantry and armored units of the Israel Defense Forces during last summer's second Lebanon war.

The IDF fears Hamas has succeeded in its efforts to smuggle Sagger-type missiles from Sinai to the Gaza Strip. It appears that the number of missiles is especially large. However, the mere fact that such a weapon may be in Hamas' hands will affect the way IDF vehicles operate in the Gaza Strip, if it is decided to embark on an extensive offensive operation.

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In recent years there have been many attempts by militant organizations to smuggle anti-tank missiles into the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians managed to successfully upgrade the RPGs in their possession from locally produced types to military grade equipment. However, the Sagger is a significant advance that poses a serious threat to the IDF - not only to armored jeeps, but also to armored personnel carriers (APCs), and in some instances, also to tanks.

During the past year there have been attempts to smuggle even more advanced anti-tank missiles, like the Konkurs and the Kornet, which Hezbollah has in its arsenal, into the Gaza Strip. It is not known whether the smugglers were successful. In May 2004, more than a year prior to the disengagement, Palestinians succeeded in destroying an APC with RPGs on the Philadelphi Route in Rafah, killing the five crewmen.

The Sagger AT-3 (a NATO designation), is a Soviet-made anti-tank missile, first used in the 1960s. The missile can hit a target at distances between 500 meters and three kilometers, and penetrate 400mm of armor. It is a relatively slow missile, whose rate of flight does not exceed 120 meters per second, and it requires about 25 seconds from the time it is launched until its impact.

During the Yom Kippur War the IDF lost many tanks to trained Egyptian crews armed with Sagger missiles. Since then, the armored corps has developed tactical maneuvering to counter the threat, mostly based on the missile's relatively slow flight and on the ability of crews to see the incoming missile.

Security sources said that even if the Sagger is not as advanced as the Kornet, it represents an increase in the potential threat to the IDF, if indeed such anti-tank missiles have made it into Hamas' hands.

Since the war in Lebanon, the Palestinians are busy learning the lessons of the conflict and they are using data and experts from Hezbollah.

In addition to the procurement of anti-tank missiles, the militant groups are making efforts to increase the range of their locally produced rockets. Current estimates hold that some Qassam rockets already have a range of 16 kilometers.

There are also extensive defensive preparations underway to repulse a possible IDF incursion into the Gaza Strip, including the construction of bunkers and tunnels.

The anti-tank missiles are a significant part of these defensive preparations because they are meant to deter the use of armored vehicles in the crowded urban confines of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians did take note of the fact that following the attack against the APC in the Philadelphi Route in 2004 and the destruction of another APC (with a six-man crew) the day before using an explosive device, the IDF seriously limited its offensive operations in the Gaza Strip.