Hamas spotted with N. Korean F-7 rocket launcher

Circumstances have revealed that Hamas, a Palestinian armed group responsible for a surprise attack on Israel, had access to weapons of North Korean origin. The possibility of a 'triangular deal' has been raised, suggesting that North Korea's conventional weapons might have reached Hamas through Iran. This has drawn attention to the route and extent of this flow.

As reported by U.S. Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Monday (local time), the military blogger known as 'War Noir' shared a captured video on his X (formerly Twitter) account the day before. In the video, members of Al-Katsam Brigades, a Hamas military organization, were seen. 'War Noir' revealed and asserted, "One of the members is shown with an 'F-7 high-explosive fragmentation rocket' manufactured in North Korea." The North Korean-produced F-7 rocket is an 85mm cannon-equipped rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) widely distributed to the Middle East.

Bruce Bechtol, a professor at Angelo State University and a former member of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), informed Voice of America that Hamas has been employing F-7 rockets supplied by North Korea. He further mentioned that North Korea had also furnished Hamas with anti-tank missiles known as the 'Phoenix.' "If the situation deteriorates in the future, there is a high likelihood that Hamas will utilize these Phoenix missiles,” he said. In 2009, the Thai government intercepted 122mm rockets and rocket propellors en route from North Korea to Iran. At that time, the Israeli government suspected these weapons were intended for delivery to Hamas and Hezbollah through Iran. The origin of the captured F-7 rocket this time remains unclear, and how it found its way to Hamas is yet to be known.


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