KEY POINTS
- There are claims Hamas used a North Korean rocket-propelled grenades when it launched its 7 October assault.
- The F-7 has been documented in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, said one expert.
- North Korea uses illicit arms shipments as a way to fund its own conventional and nuclear weapons programs.
Hamas fighters likely fired North Korean weapons during their 7 October 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 armoured vehicles.
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 .
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.
The F-7 has been documented in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, said NR Jenzen-Jones, a weapons expert who works as the director of the consultancy Armament Research Services.
"North Korea has long supported Palestinian militant groups, and North Korean arms have previously been documented amongst interdicted supplies," Jenzen-Jones told the Associated Press.
Arms seized by Israel show Hamas fighters likely used North Korean weapons in the 7 October attack. Source: AAP, AP / Alon Bernstein
"It is not a surprise to see North Korean weapons with Hamas," Schroeder said.
The North Korean F-7 resembles the more widely distributed Soviet-era RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade, with a few noticeable differences. Jenzen-Jones described the F-7 rocket-propelled grenade as "intended to offer a lethal effect against personnel" given its shape and payload, rather than armoured vehicles.
Weapons seized by the Israeli military and shown to journalists also included that red stripe and other design elements matching the F-7.
In a background briefing with journalists on Tuesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff claimed to have identified the F-7 as one of the North Korean weapons it believed Hamas used in the attack.
The Israeli military declined to answer questions from the Associated Press about the origin and the manufacturer of those rocket-propelled grenades, saying the ongoing war with Hamas prevented it from responding.
North Korea's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press. However, Pyongyang last week through its state-run KCNA news agency dismissed claims that Hamas used its weapons as "a groundless and false rumour" orchestrated by the United States.
Hamas is a Palestinian military and political group, gaining power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006.
Hamas’ stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
