'North Korean Weapons' in Hamas Hands... North Korea Denies as "Baseless Rumors"

Hamas Suspected of Using North Korean F-7 Grenade Launchers
North Korea Says "US Forcibly Linking Us to This Incident"

Palestinian armed faction Hamas has been caught using 'North Korean-made weapons' during a surprise attack on Israel, prompting North Korea to directly refute the claims. Previously, North Korea had openly supported Hamas while criticizing Israel through state-run media.

On the 13th, according to the Korean Central News Agency, international affairs commentator Ri Kwang-sung wrote in an article titled "The current Middle East situation heralds a greater strategic defeat for the United States", "What cannot be overlooked is that the U.S. is once again clinging to its stereotypical anti-Republic black propaganda to forcibly link this Middle East situation with us," and he rebutted, "The U.S. administration's puppet media organizations and pseudo-experts are spreading baseless fabricated rumors that 'North Korean-made weapons' appear to have been used in the attack on Israel."

Weapons suspected to be North Korean-made seized by the Israeli military from Hamas. [Image source=Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) website]

Earlier, weapons presumed to be North Korean-made F-7 grenade launchers were spotted in videos featuring Hamas operatives, and photos of weapons seized from Hamas and released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also showed weapons believed to be North Korean-made. The F-7 is a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher, known to have been widely exported to the Middle East region. There have been past suspicions that North Korea supplied weapons to Hamas, but it remains unclear whether the F-7 was directly handed over to Hamas or if weapons exported to other countries eventually made their way to Hamas.

Bruce Bechtol, a professor at Angelo State University and former U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) official, pointed out that Hamas has been using North Korean-made F-7s for some time, and observed, "(In this war) it is highly likely that not only the F-7 but also other North Korean-made weapons have been used."

A Hamas member holding a weapon that appears to be a North Korean-made F-7. [Image source='War Noir' X account]

North Korea claimed, "(The U.S. and others) are spreading false public opinion that we will employ a 'coercive diplomacy strategy' to escalate regional tensions while U.S. attention is focused on the Middle East and Ukraine," and insisted, "The root cause of this situation lies with the United States, which openly shields its ally that illegally occupies Palestinian territory and pursues the most reactionary pro-Middle East policies, a conclusion reached by the international community."

North Korea has also defended Hamas through its state media. On the 10th, the Rodong Sinmun published a brief four-sentence article titled "Large-scale armed clashes occur between Palestine and Israel." Without specifying the initiator of the attack, the newspaper claimed, "The international community has stated that this conflict is the result of Israel's continuous criminal acts against the Palestinians."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.