Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, told Britain’s Sky News on Sunday that Hamas terrorists were found with USB drives that included instructions on how to manufacture cyanide agents for use against Israelis.
The Times of Israel elaborated:
Herzog shows off materials recovered from USB drive on the body of a Hamas terrorist in Israel which was copied from al-Qaeda and included “detailed instructions on creating chemical weapons,” including “precise instructions for preparing a device for dispersing cyanide agents,” the President’s Office says.
“It’s official Al Qaeda material. We’re dealing with ISIS, Al Qaeda, and Hamas,” Herzog told Sky News, holding a printout of a file obtained from a USB found on one of the dead terrorists killed during the attack on Oct. 7.
“In this material, there were instructions how to produce chemical weapons. This is — it speaks about arson and it speaks about various chemicals that come out and produce chemical weapons.”
Cyanide was used as a chemical weapon during the First World War, though questions remain about its lethality in battlefield conditions outdoors. It may have been intended for indoor use — and perhaps could be used against Israeli soldiers fighting in tunnels in Gaza.
The Sky News presented then pressed Herzog on the “severing” of services from Israel to Gaza. Herzog replied that Hamas, not Israel, was responsible for cutting off Gaza’s electricity with rockets; that Gaza only obtained 7% of its water supplies from Israel; and that the UN was providing fuel.