Hamas terrorists had instructions on making chemical weapons

Hamas terrorists killed in the October 7 attack on southern Israel were discovered carrying instructions on how to deploy cyanide-based chemical bombs, the New York Post reported quoting Israeli officials.

The directions included detailed diagrams for a "cyanide dispersion device" and were stored in USBs found on the bodies of Hamas operatives who massacred Kibbutz Be'eri, according to Israeli intelligence reviewed by American news website Axios.

A cable sent by Israel to its embassies read: "This finding points to an intention by Hamas to use chemical weapons as part of its terror attack against civilians."

The cable advised the embassies to inform its diplomats that Hamas had been instructed "to conduct attacks in a similar way that ISIS tried to do."

The existence of the instructions was confirmed by Israeli President Isaac Herzog during an interview with Sky News on Sunday.

He said the instructions originated from an Al Qaeda design for chemical weapons dating back to 2003.

"It's Al Qaeda material. Official Al Qaeda material. We are dealing with ISIS, Al Qaeda and Hamas," President Herzog said.

"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," he added.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials have repeatedly compared Hamas to groups like ISIS -- a terror group known for using horrifying violence while trying to force extremist Islamic law across the world -- since its attack on the Jewish homeland two weeks ago.

In an address shortly after the attack, Israeli PM Netanyahu said: "The atrocities carried out by Hamas have not been seen since the atrocities of ISIS."

"Children bound and executed with the rest of their families, young girls and boys shot in the back, executed, and other atrocities that I will not describe here," he said.

Hamas even brought ISIS flags to some of the Kibbutzs attacked during the ambush, according to images released by Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers.

Israel has disclosed other pieces of intelligence reportedly found on the bodies of Hamas agents, including battle plans to "kill as many people as possible" and take hostages as they raided and burned civilian villages.

According to New York Post, some plans reportedly included explicit directions to target schools for kidnapping children en masse and pointed out locations where large groups of people were likely to be found like supermarkets and dining halls.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will be visiting Israel this week, as per the Israeli prime minister's office.

Macron will visit Israel on Tuesday to hold talks with Israeli PM Netanyahu, the French President's office announced.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden discussed the Israel-Hamas war with leaders of major Western powers, the White House said.

The White House said that Biden spoke with the leaders of the UK, Canada, France, Germany and Italy.

"The leaders reiterated their support for Israel and its right to defend itself against terrorism and called for adherence to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians," the White House said.