North Korea says US is trying to blame a third party for the Middle East crisis

Pyongyang said the statement, made in some media reports, was an attempt by Washington to shift responsibility for the conflict from itself to a third country.

Earlier this week, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported, citing military experts, that Hamas militants may have used North Korean weapons and asserted that video footage of Palestinian militants showed what appeared to be a rocket launcher suspected of being of North Korean origin. The US government's Voice of America (VOA) also cited an intelligence expert as saying that some of the weapons used by Hamas may have originated from North Korea.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) asserted: “The US government's press agencies and pseudo-experts are spreading groundless and untrue rumors that North Korean weapons appear to be used to attack Israel.”

“It is nothing more than an attempt to shift the responsibility for the Middle East crisis caused by its wrong hegemonic policy onto a third country and thereby avoid criticism from the international community…”, the agency said.

On October 12, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he could not confirm the information about the origin of the rockets used by Hamas. Kirby added that US security strategy in other parts of the world, including the Korean Peninsula, would not be affected by the Israel-Hamas crisis.

Earlier this week, North Korean state media blamed Israel for causing bloodshed in Gaza.

KCNA also asserted that the Israel conflict has emerged as another “huge strategic burden” for Washington, alongside the Ukraine crisis, and has shown the limitations of the US hegemonic strategy and its goal of becoming the world’s sole superpower.

The recent conflict between Israel and Palestine erupted over the weekend, with a surprise attack by Hamas, considered the bloodiest attack by Palestinian militants in Israeli history.