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Hamas Using North Korean Weapons Against Israel, South Korea Confirms
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the 5th National Meeting of Mothers in Pyongyang in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on Dec. 5, 2023. Photo: KCNA via REUTERS
Hamas terrorists have been using weapons made in North Korea in their war on Israel, South Korea’s spy agency confirmed on Monday.
The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) released a photo showing a disassembled F-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher manufactured in North Korea.
“The fuse with the Korean characters is located in the mid-section of the North Korean-made F-7 rocket,” the agency told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, adding that it was “collecting and accumulating” evidence of North Korea’s suspected supply of weapons to Hamas.
“But it is currently difficult to provide such evidence due to the need to protect information sources and in consideration of diplomatic ties,” the agency added.
(LEAD) S. Korea’s spy agency confirms Hamas’ suspected use of N. Korean weapons https://t.co/k7dAojmp9z
— Yonhap News Agency (@YonhapNews) January 8, 2024
The news came after Voice of America (VOA) reported last week that Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that rules Gaza, was using North Korean weapons. In addition to the F-7 grenade launcher, Hamas propaganda videos and photos have reportedly shown its terrorists with North Korea’s Bulsae guided anti-tank missile.
The VOA report detailed a looming lawsuit brought by families of Americans killed by Hamas terrorists during their rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7 — when they killed 1,200 people (including at least 31 Americans) and kidnapped 240 others as hostages — against the North Korean regime for allegedly supplying Hamas with weapons.
The attorney for the group, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, told VOA that North Korea “knows its weapons go to Iran, and Iran gives the weapons to Hamas,” making North Korea “liable.” Iran is the main international sponsor of Hamas, providing the terror group with arms, funds, and training.
Darshan-Leitner pointed to mounting evidence, including rocket launchers discovered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), that use parts from North Korea.
Asked about the report, the NIS said its “assessment is the same as the VOA report.”
Early in the Israel-Hamas war, which began with the Oct. 7 massacre, Akiva Tor, who serves as the Israeli ambassador to South Korea, charged that Hamas was using North Korean weapons. “In Gaza, as it is the one which attacks us, they use North Korean weapons. It could be that these North Korean weapons have been in Iran for quite a long time,” Tor said.
Pyongyang, which voiced support for Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack, pushed back on these claims, saying they are “groundless and false rumors to shift the blame for the Middle East crisis caused by its wrong hegemonic policy onto a third country.”
However, South Korea’s military has said that Hamas and North Korea appear to be linked in the global arms trade and that the latter could use military tactics similar to those used against Israel on Oct. 7 for a surprise attack on South Korea.
Yonhap also noted that the NIS reported during a parliamentary intelligence committee meeting in November that it obtained intelligence that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered officials to come up with measures to provide comprehensive assistance to the Palestinians.
North Korea has maintained diplomatic relations with Palestinian leaders since the 1960s.
Hamas is not the only foreign entity said to receive North Korean arms. US officials have said, for example that Russia is using weapons from North Korea in its war against Ukraine.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.