The website "Middle East Eye" has revealed information indicating that the delayed Israeli ground assault on the Gaza Strip is part of a campaign to maintain the element of "surprise" for Israel. The London-based news site reported that an Arab source with high-level connections to Palestinian groups stated that armed groups in Gaza expect "Israel to flood Hamas tunnels with a type of nerve gas or chemical weapons under the supervision of U.S. special forces as part of a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip."
The source mentioned that Israel and the U.S. hope to penetrate Hamas tunnels and rescue an estimated 220 hostages while killing thousands of Hamas soldiers, noting that the information they obtained came from a "leak" originating from the United States.
The source added that "the plan relies on the element of surprise to achieve a decisive victory in the battle, using internationally banned gases, particularly nerve gas and chemical weapons. Large quantities of nerve gas will be pumped into the tunnels."
He continued: the U.S. Delta Force will oversee "the pumping of large quantities of nerve gas into Hamas tunnels, which could immobilize physical movement for a duration ranging from six to 12 hours. Most nerve gases, when inhaled or absorbed through the skin, can kill anywhere from one to ten minutes by paralyzing the respiratory center in the central nervous system and immobilizing the muscles surrounding the lungs."
U.S. Defense Department spokesperson Sabrina Singh commented on the leak, stating: "This is incorrect, and these reports are inaccurate."
