Iran’s involvement in helping coordinate Hamas’ deadly terrorist attack against Israel may have begun more than a year ago, much earlier than previously known, according to a report.
Since 2022, a close group of leaders from Iran, the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah and Hamas collaborated and assisted in the training of Palestinian terrorists who would carry out the unprecedented raid against Israeli settlements near the Gaza Strip. , according to the New York Times. .
The group of leaders had “advanced knowledge” of the barbaric attack, the outlet notes, citing Iranians affiliated with the infamous Revolutionary Guard Corps and senior leaders and a Syrian affiliated with Hezbollah.
The new information was obtained from captured Hamas terrorists who, after interrogation, revealed that they had been training for the attack for a year, Israeli defense officials told the New York Times.
The Hamas terrorists were trained by elite Hezbollah members, experts in urban guerrilla warfare tactics, in Syria and at a secret joint command center set up in Lebanon’s capital city of Beirut, Iranians and Syrians familiar with the outlet told the outlet. the plot.
As part of their training, the jihadists received instruction in paragliding and hostage-taking by Hezbollah terrorists.
General Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, takes part in an anti-Israel demonstration before Friday prayers on October 13 in Tehran.ZUMAPRESS.com
Israel was aware that Hamas terrorists had been using Hezbollah sites in Syria and Lebanon as training grounds for years, the report said, but not specifically for last Saturday’s attack.
Hezbollah is a terrorist group financed by Iran and based in Lebanon, on Israel’s northern border.
Hamas is a political organization and terrorist group, also funded by Iran, that controls the Gaza Strip, a narrow strip of land lying between Israel and Egypt. Members of his Qassam Brigade carried out Saturday’s attack.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated terrorist organizations by Israel, the United States and other countries around the world.
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. AP
Efforts to unify and foster cooperation between the two terrorist groups have been led by the head of Iran’s paramilitary Quds Force, General Esmail Ghaani, who over the past year repeatedly traveled to Lebanon to hold secret meetings with Hamas leaders. and Hezbollah, according to the report. New York Times.
Possibly spurred by Ghaani’s efforts, in March, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, held a virtual meeting with strategists from all of the Iranian-backed terrorist groups, during which he discussed a ground invasion of Israel and prepared jihadist attendees for the possibility. of war, according to the report.
Israeli and American officials say they have not yet found evidence directly linking Iran to Saturday’s attack.
“The implementation was entirely Hamas, but we did not deny Iran’s help and support,” Ali Barakeh, a senior Hamas official, told the outlet, suggesting that Iran was not deeply involved in planning the attack.
A Palestinian participates in the funeral of Ahmed Al-Awawda, 19, who died in clashes with Israeli forces in the Nablus area of the occupied West Bank on October 8, 2023.SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
An Israeli intelligence official warned that while Iranian officials may have been aware of Hamas and Hezbollah’s joint training in Lebanon and Syria, that does not necessarily mean Tehran was aware of the specific attack they were training for, according to the report.
An Iranian briefed on the operation told the outlet that four days before the attack, Hamas commanders forced participants into isolation and confiscated their electronic devices.
The commanders only told them the details of their mission (to attack Israel by land, air and sea) just hours before the attack.
The report comes after the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Iranian security officials not only helped Hamas plan its sneak attack on Israel, but also gave it the final go-ahead at a meeting last Monday in Beirut.
Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, held a virtual meeting with strategists from all Iran-backed terrorist groups, during which he discussed a ground invasion of Israel and prepared jihadist attendees for the possibility of war. Getty Images Both Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated as terrorist organizations by Israel, the United States and other countries around the world.REUTERS
That report noted that Iran’s involvement in planning the attack with Hamas dates back to August.
The attack left 1,300 Israelis dead, including women, children and the elderly, and the Jewish state has since declared war on Hamas, launching rockets into Gaza as it prepares for a possible ground invasion.
Hundreds of Israelis, and some Americans, were also kidnapped during the Hamas invasion and taken back to Gaza with their terrorist captors.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn