Israel was hit by an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7, with Hamas movement's troops infiltrating border areas. On October 8, the Israeli government announced that it had invoked Article 40 of the Basic Law, which means the country was officially in a state of war.

Zelensky 'Should Answer How NATO Arms Ended Up in Gaza'

14:24, 10 October 2023

Samantha Arias

Writer

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On Saturday morning, the Palestinian Hamas movement announced an operation against Israel. Later, the Israeli army's press office reported that more than 3,000 rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip. The escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has raised questions about the source of Hamas' weapons.

Sputnik

Iranian political analyst Emad Abshenass noted that the volume and variety of the weapons used by Hamas in the latest escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "considering the siege that Gaza is under, is much bigger than if the had reached Gaza from Egypt, for example." According to him, many believe that these equipments and weapons reached the militants from inside Israel.

"Apparently, the Ukrainians sold the weapons they received from NATO on the black market. And it ended up in the hands of the Palestinians, having reached them through Israeli smugglers," Abshenas told Sputnik. "In this regard, it seems that Zelensky should answer how the weapons and equipment provided by NATO to Ukraine got out of Gaza, instead of shed crocodile tears for dead Jews," he noted.

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In the same vein, Gassan Jawad, a Lebanese political scientist, explained that the Western media have silenced scandals about corruption in Ukraine and arms sales to Palestine.

He questioned if the US is ready to help Israel, noting that the result of this war will exhaust US' forces, just like the Ukrainian crisis, which was provoked by Washington.

"Israeli intelligence has failed in its task. Its work reflects the weakness of America and the West. The West does not want to solve any regional conflict. It doesn't care about the number of casualties even in Ukraine. It is only important for the West that the situation develops in accordance with its own interests," the political scientist said in an interview with Sputnik.

Amid the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, many observers, including Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev and US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, suggested that weapons provided by the West to Ukraine may have ended up in the hands of Palestinian militants.

On Saturday, the Palestinian Hamas movement, announced an operation called "Al-Aqsa Flood" against Israel. Hamas unleashed an extraordinary rocket attack on Israel. The Israeli army press office reported that over 3,000 rockets were fired. In addition, a significant number of Hamas fighters managed to infiltrate Israel's southern border areas, killing and capturing dozens of Israeli soldiers.

As a response, the Israeli government launched operation Swords of Iron, killing hundreds of Palestinian militants, and invoked Article 40 of the Basic Law which de-facto implies a declaration of war.