LONDON, October 23. /TASS/. Members of the Palestinian radical group Hamas who infiltrated Israel carried instructions on making chemical weapons, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in an interview with Sky News.
"This is how shocking the situation is where we're looking at the instructions that are given on how to operate and how to create a kind of non-professional chemical weapon with cyanide," the TV channel quoted the president as saying. "It's Al Qaeda (outlawed in Russia - TASS) material. Official Al Qaeda material. We are dealing with ISIS (outlawed in Russia - TASS), Al Qaeda and Hamas," he said.
Herzog demonstrated the documents to the TV channel. Sky News noted that it was unable to independently verify the claims.
Replying to a question about the liability of the Israeli government for the situation where numerous militants were able to infiltrate into Israeli territory, the president said that "we will deal with all of that after the war." That said, he acknowledged that many Israelis are highly displeased with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
He also refused to discuss the possibility of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement given the military operation underway in the Gaza Strip. ""I can't go into this [a two-state solution] right now when my nation is bleeding, and in pain, and in agony," he said. "Reality is shattered. People are asking themselves deep questions. Is it possible? Can I make peace with a neighbor who wants to chop my children's heads off? Is it feasible?" Herzog added.
He also disagreed with a statement that Israel’s attempts to eliminate Hamas are disproportionate, harming civilians in the Gaza Strip. "It's not true. We have realistic objectives. We say we want to wipe out the military infrastructure of Hamas. We've said it clearly. We are cautious. Already two weeks have gone by, and we haven't operated on the ground because we are cautious," Herzog stressed.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has declared a state of war readiness; announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians; and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.