A rocket attack on Israel from Gaza. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The Hamas leadership in Gaza has been unable to rebuild any of the homes destroyed in last summer’s war with Israel, but the terrorist group has had little trouble using heavy machinery to restore its vast tunnel networks that can be used in future attacks.

Reconstruction of Gaza has “barely begun,” the Associated Press reports. At least the above-ground kind.

Underground, small bulldozers are busy restoring damaged tunnels, using “whatever cement [Hamas] can get its hands on,” the Times of Israel reports.

Hamas has been diverting cement and construction material intended for civilian rebuilding efforts.

Israeli security officials confirmed that the terrorist group was digging tunnels at a rapid pace and trying to produce many short-range rockets in an effort to minimize interception by the Iron Dome defense system and cause maximum destruction against Israeli communities.

Iran sent Hamas tens of millions of dollars to help reconstitute the group’s terrorist infrastructure, the Telegraph reported earlier this month. As news of a framework deal concerning Iran’s nuclear program emerged, the Islamic Republic reportedly increased arms shipments to its terrorist proxies Hamas and Hezbollah.

A political fight with the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority has hindered Gaza’s civilian reconstruction projects, the Times of Israel report said. Tens of thousands of Palestinians reportedly still live in tents, schools, and other forms of temporary housing.

Their welfare appears to be a secondary concern, however, as available cash and supplies are steered into the Hamas terror infrastructure.

These actions are consistent with other Hamas actions and statements, all of which point more toward a build-up for another confrontation with Israel rather than any concern for improving the lives of Palestinians in Gaza. The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) issued a report this week summarizing the multi-faceted, yet singularly focused effort to gear up for the next war. Read it here.

Steven Emerson is the Executive Director the Investigative Project on Terrorism (www.investigativeproject.org) where this article first appeared.