Pyongyang, North Korea

North Korea claimed that the media reports of its weapons being used by Hamas in its attack against Israel are false. 

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On Friday (Oct 13), the nation also alleged that the narratives have been planted by the United States in a bid to divert its blame to a third country.

Blame-shifting

North Korea's official news broadcaster KCNA on Friday called reports of the nation's weapons being in the hands of Hamas militants "groundless and false rumour(s)".

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"The US administration's reptile press bodies and quasi-experts are spreading a groundless and false rumour that 'North Korea's weapons' seemed to be used for the attack on Israel," it said, as reported by Reuters.

As per the broadcaster, such reports were "a bid to shift the blame," by what it labelled "the empire of evil".

Also read | I wish that it wasn't true: War correspondent stands by report of beheadings of Israeli babies

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"It is nothing but a bid to shift the blame for the Middle East crisis caused by its wrong hegemonic policy onto a third country and thus evade the international criticism focused on the empire of evil."

KCNA said that in addition to the more than a year-long Ukraine-Russia crisis, the Israel-Hamas conflict has emerged as another "huge strategic burden" for Washington. It also remarked that the crises showed the limitations of the US strategy for hegemony and the nation's goal of becoming the global superpower.

Earlier this week, the North Korean state media had blamed Israel for causing bloodshed in Gaza.

North Korea weapons and the Hamas 

Over the past few days, media reports have alleged that Hamas militants may have used North Korean weapons in their unprecedented surprise attack on Israel. 

Radio Free Asia, a US-funded news service, earlier this week reported that footage of Palestinian fighters showed what appeared to be a rocket launcher suspected to be from North Korea.

Also read | Taiwan studies Israel-Hamas war to learn lessons, avoid similar conflict with China

Another news service, the US government-owned Voice of America, also cited an intelligence expert to say that some weapons used by Hamas likely originated from North Korea.

Is there any proof of this?

Speaking to the press on Thursday, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said he could not confirm whether the reports about the origins of the rockets being used by Hamas were true.

Furthermore, he emphasised that the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict would not affect the United States' security strategy in the world, including the Korean peninsula.

(With inputs from agencies)

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