Evidence shows Hamas militants likely used some North Korean weapons in attack on Israel

North Korea's illicit arms shipments fund its own weapons programs, with evidence pointing to Hamas using Pyongyang's F-7 rocket-propelled grenade. Weapons seized by Israel and South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff identified the F-7 as one of the North Korean weapons used in the attack.

Hamas fighters likely fired North Korean weapons during their October 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 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 nuclear weapons programs.

Israel-Hamas war October 19 LIVE updates

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 N R 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 AP.