[vmarks]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...ticle/ShowFull

The Aksa Martyrs Brigades announced on Sunday that its members have succeeded in manufacturing chemical and biological weapons.

In a leaflet distributed in the Gaza Strip, the group, which belongs to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Party, said the weapons were the result of a three-year effort.

According to the statement, the first of its kind, the group has managed to manufacture and develop at least 20 different types of biological and chemical weapons.

The group said its members would not hesitate to add the new weapons to Kassam rockets that are being fired at Israeli communities almost every day. It also threatened to use the weapons against IDF soldiers if Israel carried out its threats to invade the Gaza Strip.

“We want to tell [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert and [Defense Minister Amir] Peretz that your threats don’t frighten us,” the leaflet said.

“We will surprise you with our new weapons the moment the first soldier sets foot in the Gaza Strip.”

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So, the government has bio and chem weapons and isn't afraid to use them.

Why do I think that could backfire badly?

[Taliesin]

Originally Posted by vmarks

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So, the government has bio and chem weapons and isn't afraid to use them.

Why do I think that could backfire badly?

I don't think that the Al-Aqsa-martyr-brigades are the government, but otherwise I don't believe for a second that they managed in a timeframe of three years to develop biological agents. Chemical weapons though might be doable.

Taliesin

[red rocket]

JERUSALEM – If Israel launches a ground assault in the Gaza Strip, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group will attack Israelis with chemical and biological weapons the group has developed, according to a pamphlet distributed yesterday by the Brigades.

But sources in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, speaking on condition of anonymity, said while the group is attempting to acquire biological and chemical agents, their current capabilities in the field still are mostly primitive.

"With the help of Allah, we are pleased to say that we succeeded in developing over 20 different types of biological and chemical weapons, this after a three-year effort," said the Al Aqsa statement, which was released yesterday and made national headlines here today.


"We say to (Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert and (Defense Minister Amir) Peretz: Your threats of invasion do not frighten us. We will surprise you with new weapons you have not faced until now. As soon as an IDF soldier sets foot on Gazan land, we will respond with a new weapon."

The group claimed it was working to add chemical and biological agents to missiles that are regularly launched from the Gaza Strip aimed at nearby Jewish communities.

The Al Aqsa Brigades, the declared "resistance wing" of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, is responsible for scores of suicide bombings, shooting attacks and rockets launched from Gaza.

Israeli security officials told WND Al Aqsa's claim of developing more than 20 kinds of chemical and biological agents is "rhetoric." They said Israel has information the group in the past has conducted low-level experiments adding some kinds of chemicals, including cyanide, to suicide belts, but that Palestinian groups currently don't have "serious" chemical or biological capabilities.

They also said Palestinian terror groups currently do not have capabilities to add chemical or biological agents to missiles but that there was a fear some countries, particularly Iran, may be assisting in such efforts.

Sources in the Al Aqsa Brigades told WND the group was experimenting with chemical agents. They claimed they currently have in their weapons arsenal certain agents that can be thrown or shot at civilians in canisters, but they declined to name the specific agents.

One Al Aqsa source said the group's work in Gaza so far has been limited mostly to Al Aqsa members who are studying chemistry at local universities where biological agents are not available and chemical agents are limited.

They said "outside parties" were helping the group add agents to missiles, but would not comment on the current status of the program or name the outside parties.

Palestinian terror groups in the past have discussed adding chemical and biological agents to suicide bomb belts. Mahmoud Abu Tir, a Hamas legislature, was arrested by Israel in the early 1990s and accused of plotting to poison Israeli water supplies.

In a recent WND interview, Abu Tir refused to confirm or deny he was involved in the plot. In 2002, Israeli security forces foiled a plan by Hamas to poison the soda fountain in a popular Jerusalem cafe.

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/articl...TICLE_ID=50794

Does not sound too dramatic to me.

Besides, if Hamas controls the parliament and Cabinet, Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' claims do not indicate "government" ownership of such weapons, nor intent of use, moderate Abbas’s position as Authority President notwithstanding.

[vmarks]

Do Fatah hold elected seats?

Do Fatah have an ongoing role in Security forces shared with Hamas (and sometimes disputed by both parties)

Does Abbas, a member of Fatah hold a position of power within the Authority?

Do other Fatah members hold positions of power within the Authority?

The answers are yes.

But I'm glad that the threat of chemical and biological weapons to be used on civilians doesn't bother you much, doesn't sound 'too dramatic.'

[vmarks]

And, most suicide belts are using chemical agents, specifically warfarin.

Warfarin is a component of rat poison, and it acts to prevent the blood from clotting, so that people stand a better chance of not surviving the attack.

[Taliesin]

Originally Posted by vmarks

And, most suicide belts are using chemical agents, specifically warfarin.

Warfarin is a component of rat poison, and it acts to prevent the blood from clotting, so that people stand a better chance of not surviving the attack.

It seems you are right, Hamas has been experimenting to include chemical agents in their attacks:
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/t...5.php?CID=2382

but it seems they had the problem to prevent the initial explosion to neutralise the chemicals.

Taliesin

[BRussell]

Originally Posted by vmarks

Palestinians claim they have Bio and Chemical weapons now.

I think they're just jealous that Iraq got all the attention.

[Wiskedjak]

vmarks is totally correct. Better start carpet bombing all Palestinian territories preemptively immediately, before it can be proven that this claim is just hot air (precedent has been set, after all)

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

What better way for oppressive regimes or terrorist groups to gain sympathy from “fellow travelers” in the west than by saber rattling about WMDs? Works for North Korea. Works for Iran…

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak

vmarks is totally correct. Better start carpet bombing all Palestinian territories preemptively immediately, before it can be proven that this claim is just hot air (precedent has been set, after all)