Hamas suspects Israeli dolphins are up to something fishy.
The militant Islamist group claimed in a video posted by its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, to have captured a heavily armed Israeli dolphin off the coast of Gaza, according to i24 News.
“Killer Zionist dolphins exist, according to a Hamas publication,” tweeted Joe Truzman, a researcher for Long War Journal and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.
“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,” he added.
Naval analyst and author HI Sutton wrote that the video posted to Twitter shows a harness that the militant group alleges was recovered. The harness appears to fit the nose of a dolphin.
He said the harness “is similar to those used in US Navy and Russian Navy marine mammal programs. The harness appears to have a spear gun-like device attached.”
Sutton noted that even though the alleged incident could not be confirmed, “it is at least plausible that Israel may have a Navy marine mammal program.”
The Flipper flap is not the first time Israel has been accused by its neighbors of using animals for military purposes, i24 News reported.
In 2013, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station accused the Jewish state of using a spy bird that was captured in Lebanon, according to the report.
“Though dolphins have been used by various militaries … 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,” Elias Groll wrote in a 2015 Foreign Policy piece.
The Hamas claim made waves in social media, where users poked fun at the notion of killer dolphins, noting that the mammals are known for being docile.
“In other news, the supposedly much vaunted Hamas heroes are scared by a few cute dolphins!” international human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky said in a tweet.
“Good morning agent, please report for duty!” he said in another post, which included a photo of a cute dolphin.
Another user, Sia Kordestani, posted an image of an airborne dolphin wearing an Israeli navy cap firing a laser gun at the enemy.
“WOW. Hamas releases photo of the moment its Izzedine al-Qassam Beach Patrol commander was martyred by a secret Israeli spy dolphin!” he quipped.