Hamas has learnt from Isis and al-Qaeda – do not rule out the use of chemical weapons
Considering some of the atrocities already perpetrated by Hamas, it should be no great surprise to learn that, according to Israeli president Isaac Herzog, the terrorist group are also looking at chemical weapons to further their murderous intent. Having seen at first hand how successful chemical weapons were in Syria – they kept Bashar al-Assad in power, with Western governments unwilling to enforce US President Barack Obama’s redline – Hamas might well believe they could give them an advantage too.
The four-year siege of Aleppo by the Syrian army was broken by Assad’s 17-day rain of chlorine barrel bombs in December 2016. There were allegedly over 200 uses of chemical weapons in Syria, which led me to observe in my memoir, Chemical Warrior, that if “you have no morals or scruples you would use chemical weapons all the time” – they are morbidly effective, completely indiscriminate weapons and rightly outlawed across the globe.
I investigated many chemical attacks in Syria between 2013 and 2019, but one of the oddest was a terrorist attack in 2017, where an Isis suicide bomber, apparently with a cyanide explosive vest, went into an al-Qaeda command bunker and killed around 50 other terrorists. Doctors who I spoke to at the time confirmed the terrorists had probably died from cyanide poisoning.
I had the great honour to be one of the Iraqi Kurd Peshmerga’s chemical weapons advisors in the fight with Isis between 2015 and 2017. The Peshmerga, the bravest of brave men and women soldiers, were attacked several times with Isis chemical weapons. On one occasion, in April 2016, chlorine mortars landed near our position in a town 40km or so south of the capital Erbil. I thought the Peshmerga would be well trained and drilled to deal with these attacks, but after Saddam Hussein’s massive chemical attack at Halabja in March 1988, which killed 5,000 people at the time and 12,000 since, the dreadful spectre of chemical weapons is engrained in the Kurdish psyche.
The psychological effect of the threat of chemical weapons is 10 times the physical, which make them the ideal horror weapon for terrorists.
Sadly, toxic industrial chemicals like cyanide and chlorine are readily available on the open market, and no amount of foot stamping at the United Nations or threats of investigations are likely to put Hamas off using them. No doubt the Israel Defence Forces are well trained and equipped to deal with these types of weapons, and even as they clear the vast tunnel networks, these weapons are unlikely to impede them.
The impact on civilians is probably the area for focus, with the possibility of one of Hamas’s missiles having a cyanide tip. However, most will be destroyed by Israel’s Iron Dome system which would also destroy the cyanide. If one does get through, civilians should get “up wind” and on higher ground to the impact site, as the chemicals will soon dissipate.
This type of advice in Syria no doubt saved many civilian lives and for Ukraine I helped produce an app on “how to survive a chemical attack”, which I think has reassured the population rather than create more terror.
There seems to be no limits to the terror that Hamas is prepared to spread and the use of chemical weapons is well within their compass.
They appear to have the details of all the work al-Qaeda and Isis put into developing chemical weapons, so this is a threat that must be taken seriously. But it is worth noting that they are unlikely to slow an Israeli army advance and if civilians take basic precautions, as suggested, they should avoid becoming casualties.
Chemical weapons have always caused infinitely less casualties than conventional bombs and bullets, and if civilians can convince themselves of this, any use by Hamas will be futile.
Source » inews.co.uk
