Hamas terrorists were carrying instructions for making chemical weapons when they launched their horrific attack on Israeli border villages on October 7, Israel’s president has claimed.
Isaac Herzog said documents found on the bodies of dead fighters at Kibbutz Be’eri were “official al-Qaeda material” and showed how to make a weapon using cyanide.
“We are dealing with ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Hamas,” Herzog told Sky News. The documents are said to come from a well-known al-Qaeda manual from 2003.
“This is how shocking the situation is when we look at the instructions given on how to operate and produce a type of non-professional chemical weapon using cyanide.”
The president’s office later said the documents were found on a USB stick near a dead Hamas fighter on the kibbutz – where around 20 percent of the 1,100 residents are believed to have been slaughtered or kidnapped.
Members of the Army Rescue Forces and ZAKA crews search for bodies after the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be’eri
Israeli warplanes continued to strike targets across the Gaza Strip throughout the weekend and into Monday morning
Gunmen from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, take part in a military parade in Gaza City. Palestine
There is no evidence that Hamas terrorists had the components needed to make chemical weapons when they invaded Israel.
Mr Herzog’s claims have not been independently verified, but the contents of the documents are said to have contained credible ingredients for the weapons.
“Al-Qaeda has put a lot of time and effort into developing a chemical weapon based on cyanide,” Hamish de Bretton Gordon, former head of the British Military Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Weapons Regiment, told Sky.
“Cyanide is a blood poison and AQ has developed a chemical weapon that uses these types of chemicals.”
During his interview, Mr. Herzog defended his country’s retaliatory attacks on Gaza, which many argued had disproportionately affected civilians.
‘It is not true. “We have realistic goals,” he said. “We say we want to wipe out Hamas’ military infrastructure.” We’ve said it clearly. We are careful.
“It has already been two weeks and we have not operated on site because we were cautious.”
“I cry for the lives of Palestinians, but first and foremost I cry for the lives of my nation.”
Isaac Herzog said that documents found on the bodies of dead fighters at Kibbutz Be’eri were “official al-Qaeda material.”
Members of the Ezz Al Din Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, march on a truck carrying rockets through a street in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip
Israel has reportedly published a “hostage manual” given to Hamas militants by their leaders before their cross-border attack on October 7
Hamas terrorists stormed kibbutzim and a desert festival in southern Israel on October 7, in what many Israelis refer to as their September 11th.
1,400 Israelis were killed and over 220 taken hostage in the horrific attack in which Hamas burned houses and murdered entire families.
Last week, Israel released a purported “hostage manual” found among the bodies of dead Hamas terrorists.
The eight-page guides contained instructions for the deadly raid such as “Kill the problematic ones” and “Create chaos.”
One of the group’s most harrowing raids was on the Be’eri kibbutz, where a British mother and her teenage daughters were murdered.
Israeli Major General Itai Veruv recounted how Hamas terrorists threw a hand grenade at 15 girls and teenagers who were desperately trying to hide from them. Everyone was found dead in this single room.
Hamas gunmen also set fire to several houses here in a nefarious attempt to drive away families so they could shoot them as soon as they reached their gardens.
In response to Hamas’ horrific coordinated attacks on Israeli soil, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on the terror group and launched widespread airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in the days and weeks since.
Israeli airstrikes have killed over 4,600 people and injured over 14,000 in Gaza since October 7, according to the Hamas-run health authority in the area.
A rocket is fired from the coast of the Gaza Strip towards Israel by fighters from the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam militia, the military wing of the Hamas movement
As Israel announces it will step up its bombing campaign on Gaza, Israeli forces have reportedly released evidence of Hamas rocket-launching sites located among mosques, schools and kindergartens in the enclave.
The IDF today shared satellite images that it said showed launch pits dug into the ground right next to civilian structures – something Israel says supports its claims that Hamas is using the Palestinian people as human shields.
Israeli warplanes continued to strike targets throughout the Gaza Strip and at two airports in Syria throughout the weekend and into Monday morning, according to local media.
Meanwhile, about 95 people are believed to have been killed in the occupied West Bank, where a mosque allegedly used by terrorists was bombed by Israeli forces, killing at least two people.