How Israel's Iron Sting Is Taking On Hamas

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has used a new form of weapon dubbed the Iron Sting in its ongoing campaign of strikes against Hamas militants, the first recorded use of the precision mortar in combat.

In a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, the IAF shared footage of one of the "innovative and accurate" munitions being used by the Maglan commando unit, which operates deep inside hostile territory and specializes in anti-tank warfare, to hit a rocket-launching site at an undisclosed location.

The IAF dated the content of the video as having taken place on Sunday, however, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published the same footage, along with a press release about it being the first use of the Iron Sting weapon, on October 14.

It said the mortar had targeted a Hamas "military post" used to launch attacks against Israel and had been operating the previous night.

The IAF also referred to the weapon as a "Steel Sting," while the IDF and the manufacturer Elbit Systems have referred to it as the Iron Sting.

It is unclear why there is a disparity in official information about the strike. Newsweek approached the IAF and the IDF via email for comment on Monday.

According to multiple Israeli outlets, in a statement, Major General Omer Cohen, Maglan brigade commander, said: "Thanks to the precision, lethality and expertise of the fighters, the Maglan unit in cooperation with the air force foiled dozens of terrorists with a variety of means, one of which is the precision 'Iron Sting.'"

The new weapon was first revealed in March 2021, after the completion of testing in southern Israel and the start of production for the IDF.

At the time, Elbit said the mortar employed laser and GPS guidance to "engage targets precisely, in both open terrains and urban environments, while reducing the possibility of collateral damage and preventing injury to non-combatants."

Then Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said it would allow the IDF to "contend with enemies hidden within civilian, urban environments, while meeting the legal and moral standards" of modern warfare. Operating in close quarters in a densely-populated area is one of the major challenges posed by a widely anticipated ground offensive on Gaza, experts have highlighted.

Elbit said that during testing, the Iron Sting launcher was mounted on an American-made M113 armored personnel carrier and a Hummer 4x4 SUV. It added that the weapons system had taken 10 years of development to bring to production.

News of the Iron Sting's use came after reports of the potential early deployment of the Iron Beam, a defensive laser cannon developed to complement Israel's Iron Dome missile interceptor system.

Originally scheduled for deployment in 2025, the Iron Beam—which costs considerably less than the Iron Dome to operate and was conceived to tackle the emerging threat of drone attacks—is being rushed into active use after around 1,500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants staged a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, according to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The IAF has conducted a number of airstrikes on Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza in the weeks since, while Israel has continued to face rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory. On Sunday, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington D.C.-based military affairs think tank, recorded eight attacks on IDF positions near the border and seven instances of rockets being fired at Israeli population centers.