Hamas claims Israeli military dolphin equipped with weapons attacked its naval forces

On January 10, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas and the terrorist organisation that controls the Gaza Strip, claimed that its naval unit has captured an Israeli military dolphin that was equipped with weapons to attack the resistance fighters, Jerusalem Post reported. The Al-Qassam brigades naval commandos spokesperson disclosed in a video that Hamas naval operatives were chased into the water by dolphins outfitted with a gadget capable of murdering the terrorist group's frogmen during an unspecified operation.

The video also detailed Hamas operational actions, including the removal of a huge number of munitions from a British ship that sank off Gaza's coast. The function of the underwater attacker's device was not revealed, but media agency Al-Quds claimed to have information from sources about another battle cetacean event in August 2015 involving a remote control, a camera, and a weapon capable of firing harpoon-like missiles.

'Killer Zionist dolphins exist'

Joe Truzman, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies' Long War Journal, tweeted, 'Killer Zionist dolphins exist, according to a Hamas publication. Abu Hamza explains that a member of Hamas' Frogman unit who was killed by Israel during the May conflict found the killer dolphin. The device the alleged killer dolphin was wearing is shown in the publication.'

Israel accused of utilising other animals for military objectives

Israel has been accused in the past of utilising other animals for military objectives. Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha, the governor of Egypt's South Sinai, claimed in 2010 that deadly shark attacks in Sharm el-Sheikh were part of a Mossad operation to harm Egyptian tourism. After a misunderstanding regarding the purpose of the tracking device it was carrying, Saudi Arabian officials detained a vulture in 2011 on suspicion of espionage for Israel.

In 2013, Turkish officials arrested an alleged Israeli spy bird, but it was freed after X-rays revealed it was not equipped with monitoring equipment. Iran was also accused of employing killer dolphins with harpoons strapped to their heads, according to the Mirror newspaper. Marine animals have historically been used by the military, though usually for surveillance and equipment retrieval rather than aquatic killings, as Hamas stated it was attempting to avoid.

(With inputs from agencies)

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