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Secret Documents Show Hamas Tried to Persuade Iran to Join Its Oct. 7 Attack

(New York Times) Ronen Bergman - Minutes from 10 secret meetings over two years, seized by the Israeli military, provide a detailed record of the planning for Hamas's Oct. 7 terrorist attack. Hamas initially planned to carry out the attack in the fall of 2022, but delayed executing the plan as it tried to persuade Iran and Hizbullah to participate. In July 2023, Hamas dispatched a top official to Lebanon to meet with a senior Iranian commander. He requested Iran's help with striking sensitive sites at the start of the assault. The senior Iranian commander told Hamas that Iran and Hizbullah were supportive in principle, but needed more time to prepare. Hamas deliberately avoided major confrontations with Israel for two years from 2021, in order to maximize the surprise of the Oct. 7 attack. Hamas leaders said they "must keep the enemy convinced that Hamas in Gaza wants calm." The minutes were discovered on a computer found in January by Israeli soldiers as they searched an underground Hamas command center in Khan Yunis from which the group's leaders had recently escaped.
2024-10-13 00:00:00
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