Israel-Hamas war: Isaac Herzog documents under scrutiny
Sky News has spoken to a former spy involved in the creation of an al Qaeda bomb and used open source techniques to analyse the documents shared by the Israeli president.
Monday 23 October 2023 19:20, UK
Israel's president has claimed instructions on how to make chemical weapons were found on the body of a Hamas fighter. Sky News has fact-checked the alleged documents.
We spoke to a former al Qaeda member turned MI6 spy who was involved in the creation of the bomb referenced in the documents, as well as a number of independent experts to help verify the information that has been made available.
What did President Isaac Herzog do?
The Israeli president showed what he said was "al Qaeda material" found by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on the body of a dead fighter in Kibbutz Be'eri.
He said it showed Israel was "dealing with ISIS, al Qaeda and Hamas" as he held up a document referencing the two other terrorist organisations: "al Qaeda" written in English and a flag widely recognised as representing ISIS.
The red text reads "a brigade of Islamic international council for jihad against Jews and Christians", while the text at the bottom says it is a "publication for self-advancing knowledge for mujahids [fighters]".
Mr Herzog also held up a labelled diagram of a bomb with one version in Arabic, the second in English. Neither document includes step-by-step instructions on how to assemble the bomb, nor how to use it.
What else has Israel said about the documents?
The president's office later said the materials were found on a USB drive and contained "detailed instructions on creating chemical weapons and implementing their use among the civilian population".
The office claims "the source of the document is a manual from the al Qaeda terrorist organisation dated 2003" and that it "indicates" a "connection" between the organisations.
It is not clear if they purport that all the documents on the USB were from 2003 or just the materials related to bomb-making.
Sky News has not seen any public statement made by Hamas regarding the claims.
Are the documents real?
Trying to verify the material is difficult.
No independent evidence that the material was taken from a Hamas fighter has been provided.
Mr Herzog's team sent Sky News the three documents shown on air but the full material has not been sent to our research team.
In trying to verify the image of the bomb, Sky News has spoken to Aimen Dean, a former member of al Qaeda who turned against the terrorist group and became an MI6 spy. He helped create a poison bomb known as the mubtakkar.
He said: "I can confirm this is the exact diagram from a 2003 secret document written by an al Qaeda cell I was infiltrating in Saudi Arabia between 2002 and 2005."
This corroborates part of Israel's statement that at least some of the material comes from a 2003 manual.
He added that an al Qaeda member leaked the document to Hamas, a detail which is public knowledge as Mr Dean wrote about it in his autobiography, Nine Lives.
The diagram has since been widely distributed online.
"By 2009, al Qaeda released it online for wider distribution on their password protected web forums," Mr Dean told Sky News. "It is estimated that it was downloaded more than 900 times before it was taken down by security services and since then have I seen it posted again [online]."
Mr Dean believes the diagram alone is "enough to construct the mubtakkar as long as the person has basic chemistry skills".
However, this assertion is disputed by William Alberque, director of strategy, technology and arms control at the International Institute of Strategic Services (IISS), who believes some prior knowledge is required.
He said: "I believe that that image alone is not sufficient to create a viable device without additional information and/or prior training."
This is part of the diagram:
The image above shows the diagram given to Sky News by the president's office We have chosen to crop most of the labels, but the use of adhesive tape demonstrates just one of the basic components needed to make the weapon.
What about the other document?
The other document provided was what appears to be a cover or front page document.
The page can be found online.
For example, the page appears as the cover of a digital book.
Sky News viewed a 30-page version of the document which was a biography about Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing in New York.
This publication does not include the annotated diagram.
However, materials such as these are removed by governments and internet providers once posted online and Sky News is unable to verify whether the diagrams are part of this manual.
When was the document found?
The first time the IDF claimed it had found the "cover of an al Qaeda/ISIS training and inspiration booklet" was on 12 October.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Israeli forces posted that the material was found on the body of a dead fighter in Israel.
However, the post did not mention chemical weapons until Mr Herzog's interview and the IDF have not provided any independent proof that the documents were found on the body of a Hamas fighter, or any further details.
Do the documents link Hamas to al Qaeda?
Mr Herzog suggested the discovery linked Hamas to the two other terrorist organisations, saying: "It's al Qaeda material. Official al Qaeda material. We are dealing with ISIS, al Qaeda and Hamas."
His office also issued a statement saying it "indicates the connection between the organisations".
But is that the case?
Mr Alberque, of the IISS, told Sky News there are dozens of "manuals" on how to make and/or deliver chemical weapons that have been created and disseminated over the decades, including a number of materials attributed to al Qaeda.
Asked whether a Hamas fighter having these materials would mean the organisation is collaborating with al Qaeda, Mr Alberque said: "No, it does not. There are many, many variants on manuals like this, as mentioned, dating back years, decades, even centuries. It is not at all surprising that such manuals circulate in the jihadist community with or without direct collaboration."
His comments were echoed by Aymenn Jawad Al Tamimi, independent analyst and Fellow at the Middle East Forum, told Sky News: "The documents showed don't prove a Hamas link with al Qaeda. The fact is that jihadist materials on explosives, bomb making etc have been disseminated on the internet for a long time and it is possible for Hamas members and others to access and download them."
Has Hamas used or expressed an interest in chemical weapons before?
Joe Truzman, analyst at Foundation for Defending Democracies and expert on Palestinian militant groups, told Sky News: "I've never seen them express the interest of using chemical weapons.
"I have seen them express an interest killing civilians... In my experience of tracking this group and many other Palestinian groups inside Gaza, there's not a history of trying to use chemical weapons against Israelis, at least they haven't stated it.
"But I don't think it was planted by the Israeli government to make Hamas look more like a terror group than it already is."