Hamas, which distanced itself from last week’s deadly attacks north of Eilat, in fact funds and supports the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) terrorists who were involved, according to the IDF.

Eight Israelis, including two soldiers, were murdered and more than 30 were wounded in the assault. Hamas claimed it has no connection with the deadly and sophisticated operation.

“The PRC is an independent terrorist organization in Gaza that is supported, subsidized and trained by the Hamas terrorist organization,” IDF spokesmen reported Tuesday morning.

Hamas allows the PRC to act independently and uses it as a means of continuing "resistance" against Israel while being able to claim that it is not involved in the PRC's terrorist activities, the Israeli military explained.

The same PRC group worked with the Army of Islam in the 2006 attack on an IDF checkpoint at a Gaza crossing. Two soldiers were killed and Gilad Shalit was kidnapped. Hamas has claimed it does not where he is being held.

Hamas “directly supports” the PRC, said the IDF, which holds Hamas responsible for attacks from Gaza. Hamas took over control of the region four years ago in a bloody war with the rival Fatah faction, headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

The PRC was founded in 2000, following the outbreak of the Oslo War, also known as the Second Intifada, during which more than 1,000 Israelis were killed -- mostly civilians.

“The PRC operates in coordination with Iranian authorities and the Hizbullah terrorist organization and has conducted multiple terrorist activities against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” according to the IDF.

The PRC also has taken responsibility for dozens of rockets launched at southern Israel over the past few days.