An unverified media report claimed that Israeli forces are preparing to deploy nerve gas inside the massive network of tunnels under Gaza that Hamas utilizes.
The publication Middle East Eye, which has been accused of being backed by Qatar and having a pro-Muslim Brotherhood political orientation, claimed that as part of an alleged plan to rescue the more than 200 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces will flood the tunnels that shelter Hamas with nerve gas and chemical weapons with the cooperation of the U.S. Army’s Delta Force.
The publication attributed the information to a leak from a U.S. source, though it admits that the information cannot be independently verified.
Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent for The Economist, belittled the accuracy of the claims made by the Middle East Eye, stating:
“Folks, the author of that ‘nerve gas’ story has a long history of making s**t up, the sourcing is a joke, there are some glaring factual errors (Delta Force is part of the navy?) and the ‘plan’ it describes isn’t even remotely plausible. Please stop sharing it.”
Authorities in Gaza claimed that more than 6,700 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Israel began its bombing campaign following the brazen terrorist attacks Hamas launched against southern Israel earlier this month, according to The New York Times.
The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza claimed the deaths were the result of Israeli airstrikes, according to CBS News. However, the same government agency erroneously attributed the strike on the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza to Israel. It was later reportedly determined that the explosion was caused by a misfired rocket launched by the terrorist group Islamic Jihad.
President Joe Biden has gone on record saying that he has “no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using,” according to Al Jazeera.
The mounting death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has caused António Guterres, the secretary-general of the UN, to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, per CBS News.
However, the secretary-general’s words were not well received by Israeli officials after he blamed Israel for the October 7 massacre by Hamas. Following the statement, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, demanded that Guterres resign, as reported by The Hill.
More than 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed in the attack, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
