WSJ Report
According to the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) latest report, Hamas leadership has alleged that Iranian Security officers helped the group plan Saturday’s attack on Israel for several months and then gave the green light during a meeting held in Beirut last Monday.
Per the WSJ’s report, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers started working with Hamas in late August to plot the October 7 deadly attack, which saw hundreds of terrorists invade Israel and thousands of rockets launched, targeting various parts of the country.
Israel hasn’t experienced an attack of such magnitude since 1973, when the Yom Kippur war occurred.
Meanwhile, the Hamas senior members who spoke to the Wall Street Journal have claimed that Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah also helped them formulate strategic and tactical plans for the attack during multiple meetings in Beirut.
“Iran Was Involved,” Lina Khatib
Following the latest assault on Israel, several prominent individuals have come out to suggest that Iran was involved. SOAS director at the Middle East Institute, Lina Khatib, says this kind of attack took several months of plotting and wouldn’t have occurred without collaboration with Iran. She adds that Hamas doesn’t make decisions on its own when it comes to launching attacks. According to Khatib, the terrorist group usually gets into an agreement with Iran before going to war.
An unidentified Iranian Official and Hamas leaders told WSJ that their wider plan is to close in on Israel with the help of other militant groups, including Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
US Government Official Suspects Iran’s Involvement in Latest Attack
While the United States has not officially confirmed WSJ’s report, Antony Blicken, the Secretary of State, told CNN on Sunday night that even though the US government has not received evidence of Iran’s involvement, there is a chance militant groups in that country contributed to planning the attack due to their long relationship with the Hamas.
Meanwhile, WSJ has reported that the Iranian delegation attending a conference in New York organized by the United Nations turned down the news outlet’s request for comment. On the other hand, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday to praise the attack on Israel.
