Hamas fighters likely fired North Korean weapons during their Oct. 7 assault on Israel, a militant video and weapons seized by Israel show, despite Pyongyang’s denials that it arms the militant group.
South Korean officials, two experts on North Korean arms and an Associated Press analysis of weapons captured on the battlefield by Israel point toward Hamas using Pyongyang’s F-7 rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-fired weapon that fighters typically use against armored vehicles.
Could be China arming Hamas with NK weapons via Iran. A destabilized Middle East while Eastern Europe is in turmoil only benefits China. Because it means that the US can’t allocate all their military funds into East Asia.
I think the weapons are traveling through Russia. I also think it benefits Russia more than China considering the US is supplying Ukraine. I suspect that Putin strategized that splitting US involvement would weaken US support in Ukraine.
There was a recent story about weapons leaving North Korea via train bound for Russia.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-releases-image-alleged-north-korea-shipment-weapons-russia-white-house-2023-10-13/I heard this theory before and it makes the most sense. It’s a win, win, win for them. U.S. support gets split. Isreal’s support of Ukraine dries up. The EU also gets distracted. The Middle East gets destabilized which can give Russia more business with their mercenaries. I really don’t see any way in which this war is bad for Russia.
Wasn’t Kim Jong Un just there too?
That is a double edged sword. China imports the majority of their oil from the Middle East. War and destabilize in the region could impact oil exports and hurt their economy far more than the U.S.
North Korean workmanship seems to be at a premium worldwide. North Korea could lead the absurd world consisting of Russia, Belarus, Iran, Hamas, Taliban, Cuba, Nicaragua etc. into a sparkling future.
A world of religious extremists, megalomaniacs and dictators, living in peace. Beautiful 🥲
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
The evidence shines a light on the murky world of the illicit arms shipments that sanction-battered North Korea uses as a way to fund its own conventional and nuclear weapons programs.
Rocket-propelled grenade launchers fire a single warhead and can be quickly reloaded, making them valuable weapons for guerrilla forces in running skirmishes with heavy vehicles.
Hamas has published images of their fighters with a launcher with a rocket-propelled grenade with a distinctive red stripe across its warhead, and other design elements matching the F-7, said Matt Schroeder, a senior researcher with Small Arms Survey who wrote a guide to Pyongyang’s light weapons.
In a background briefing with journalists Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff specifically identified the F-7 as one of the North Korean weapons it believed Hamas used in the attack.
However, Pyongyang last week through its state-run KCNA news agency dismissed claims that Hamas used its weapons as “a groundless and false rumor” orchestrated by the United States.
In December 2009, Thai authorities grounded a North Korean cargo plane reportedly carrying 35 tons of conventional arms, including rockets and rocket-propelled grenades, as it made a refueling stop at a Bangkok airport.
The original article contains 655 words, the summary contains 195 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
