US-supplied weapons to Ukraine have found their way to the Gulf, where they are possibly being used against Israel, America's closest ally in the region, according to a published media report.
"The situation could mark yet another chapter in a long legacy of US arms shipments being diverted," New York-based outlet Newsweek wrote.
Soldiers load a High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS ) from a US Special Operations MC-130J aircraft during military exercises at Spilve Airport in Riga, Latvia, on Sept. 26, 2022.
© AP Photo / Roman Koksarov
Observers Worried Hamas Might Be Using US Weapons. Why?
Even the son of former US President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., drew attention to American-made M4 assault rifles seen in the hands of the Palestinians.
Trump Jr. also questioned whether these machine guns could be among the 70,000 automatic machine guns that Washington left behind for the Taliban* when it made a hasty retreat from Afghanistan in 2021.
A Taliban fighter mans his weapon during celebrations one year after the Taliban seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022.
© AP Photo / Ebrahim Noroozi
Interestingly the Newsweek report about Western weapons falling into the hands of the Middle East's radical organizations comes at a time when Palestinian military movement Hamas and Israel are engaged in one of the bloodiest escalations in decades after the former launched a large-scale attack on the latter on Saturday.
The fighting between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces has left over 1,100 dead on both sides with fighting continuing in many cities of the Jewish state.
Previously, an Israeli geopolitical pundit told Sputnik India that Ukrainian weapons had certainly made it to Palestine through the black market.
"Through smuggling, Soviet weapons, and now Russian ones, apparently continue to fall into the hands of Hamas. Yes, Hamas has many types of weapons. These are mainly MANPADS, not to mention Soviet-made RPG missiles and Soviet modifications" Tel Aviv-based strategic affairs analyst Dr. Simon Tsipis said.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, commenting on reports that Hamas allegedly got weapons from Ukraine, that Israel will study sources of arms supplies to the region.
"It is obvious that the Israelis will study in detail the sources of these weapons in this region," Peskov told reporters, adding that "it is necessary to wait until there is qualified accurate information."
* The Taliban is under UN sanctions for extremism.