Moscow likely hopes to „drive a wedge in military support for Ukraine,“ the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War think tank said.
Russia is already wielding Palestinian militant attacks on Israel as a weapon to try to erode Western backing for Kyiv and distract the West’s attention from Moscow’s war in Ukraine, according to a new assessment.
„The Kremlin is already and will likely continue to exploit the Hamas attacks in Israel to advance several information operations intended to reduce US and Western support and attention to Ukraine,“ the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said on Saturday.
On Saturday, Palestinian movement Hamas launched its most deadly attacks on Israel in years, firing rockets from Gaza as its fighters waged a land, air and sea assault. Israel then carried out strikes on Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, declaring Israel was now „at war.“
U.S. President Joe Biden said Washington would „offer all appropriate means of support“ to Israel after the „horrific and ongoing attacks,“ adding that the U.S. „unequivocally condemned this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza.“
But the Kremlin has spread information that largely blames Western countries for „neglecting conflicts in the Middle East in favor of supporting Ukraine,“ the ISW argued in its latest assessment.
