Hamas is reportedly claiming that Israel has used dolphins to spy on them.
Israeli journalist Khaled Abu Toameh tweeted on January 10 that Hamas alleged that “Israel using dolphins to spy on us and chase our navy commandos off the coast of the Gaza Strip.” Toameh then linked to the Arabic newspaper Al Quds, which quoted a spokesperson from the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, stating that they found a dolphin with an unspecified device to use for “assassination.”
Hamas: Israel using dolphins to spy on us and chase our navy commandos off the coast of the Gaza Strip.https://t.co/TaXlmNvX2B
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) January 10, 2022
Joe Truzman, a research analyst for Long War Journal and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank, tweeted that “Killer Zionist dolphins exist, according to a Hamas publication.” He added that the spokesperson alleged that a Hamas member killed during the May conflict “found the killer dolphin.” Truzman’s tweet also contained a video of the Hamas spokesperson making the dolphin allegation.
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. pic.twitter.com/gvAyynO3YT
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) January 10, 2022
Various people on Twitter mocked the allegation.
“In other news, the supposedly much vaunted Hamas heroes are scared by a few cute dolphins!” Human rights lawyer and International Legal Forum head Arsen Ostrovsky tweeted.
In other news, the supposedly much vaunted Hamas heroes are scared by a few cute dolphins! https://t.co/31Z3bz6E81
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) January 10, 2022
Siamak Kordestani, West Coast Director of the European Leadership Network, tweeted, “Killer Zionist Dolphin is a good name for a punk band, for what it’s worth.”
Killer Zionist Dolphin is a good name for a punk band, for what it's worth. 👨🎤🎸🐬 https://t.co/D5E7kdxaZl
— Sia Kordestani (@SiaKordestani) January 10, 2022
Shai DeLuca, retired Israel Defense Force Sergeant and TV personality tweeted, “2021 was the year of the Jewish space lasers. 2022 is the year of Mossad dolphins. Can’t wait to see what 2023 brings.” “Jewish space lasers” is a reference to 2018 social media posts from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) blaming the California wildfires at the time on a space laser connected to a Rothschild banking firm.
https://twitter.com/ShaiDeLuca/status/1480604912379703298
Hamas has previously made a similar claim about Israel using killer dolphins in 2015; Foreign Policy’s Elias Groll wrote at the time that “though dolphins have been used by various militaries, including by both the United States and Russia, this report likely falls into what is a surprisingly fertile genre of conspiracy theories: the notion that Israeli intelligence routinely uses all manner of birds and other animals as tools of espionage.”
