According to an Associated Press report datelined October 19, the Hamas terrorists who murdered more than a thousand Israeli civilians on Shabbat Simchat Torah, “likely fired North Korean weapons,” based on a Hamas video and the weapons that have been seized by Israel.
Pyongyang is denying selling arms to Hamas.
The video above was analyzed by two experts on North Korean arms, and an AP expert analyzed the actual weapons that were captured by the IDF and compared them to South Korean military intelligence, and concluded that Hamas used the shoulder-fired RPG-7 (rocket-propelled grenade), a weapon used against armored vehicles.
The Dong-a Ilbo, South Korea’s newspaper of record, reported as early as October 11 that “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 (Hamas spotted with N. Korean F-7 rocket launcher).
According to Dong-a Ilbo, Bruce Bechtol, a former member of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), told the Voice of America that Hamas is using F-7 rockets supplied by North Korea. He also mentioned that North Korea had furnished Hamas with anti-tank missiles known as the “Phoenix.”
According to Military Today, the Phoenix is a locally-built variant of the Soviet Fagot (Anti-Tank Guided Missile – ATGM). Since the late 1970s, the Soviet Union supplied its Fagot anti-tank-guided weapons to North Korea and helped Pyongyang set up local production of these weapons. The more capable Konkur anti-tank guided missile was also produced in North Korea until at some point the North Koreans created their own improved version of the Fagot. This anti-tank-guided weapon has been supplied to Hamas and other Arab terrorist groups.
Dong-a Ilbo reported that in 2009, the Thai government intercepted 122mm rockets and rocket propellors that were shipped by North Korea to Iran. Israel suspected that the weapons were intended for delivery to Hamas and Hezbollah through Iran.
The AP cited weapons expert N.R. Jenzen-Jones, who said the rocket-propelled grenade launchers fire a single warhead and can be quickly reloaded, and is effective against heavy armored vehicles.
The F-7 has been documented in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip, Jenzen-Jones said.
