Iranian security officials helped the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas plan its Saturday sneak attack on Israel, and gave the final go-ahead at a meeting last Monday in Beirut, according to an explosive new report.
Officers from Iran’s infamous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been working with the Gaza Strip-based terrorist organization since August to plan the October 7 attack, which launched thousands of rockets and groups of gunmen over the fortified border. Israeli attack, killing more than 700, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The attack was the most serious violation of the Jewish state since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Iranian officials, as well as representatives of Iranian-backed militant groups, including Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, refined tactical and strategic plans for the assault during several meetings in Beirut, according to the Journal, which cited senior members of both terrorist groups.
Iran helped plan Saturday’s assault on Israel, according to a new report. AFP via Getty Images Israel’s legendary intelligence services apparently missed the warning signs of the Hamas attack on Saturday. AFP via Getty Images The attack has caused more than 700 Israeli deaths and thousands more. injured. MOHAMMED SABER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
It’s a no-brainer that Iran helped plan the bloody chaos, some experts said.
“An attack of such scope could only have happened after months of planning and would not have happened without coordination with Iran,” Lina Khatib, director of the SOAS Middle East Institute at the University of London, told the outlet.
“Hamas, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, does not alone make decisions to participate in war without Iran’s prior explicit agreement.”
The overall plan is to eventually wage active war with Israel on all fronts to eventually move closer to it with the help of Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the north and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank. senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah and an Iranian official told the Journal.
US officials have not confirmed the report.
“We have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack, but there is certainly a long relationship,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CNN on Sunday.
Another U.S. official reinforced Blinken’s statement when he said the United States “does not have any information at this time to corroborate this account.”
The attack has been called the largest escalation of hostilities in the region in decades. REUTERS The attack on Israel came a day after the 50th anniversary of its 1973 Yom Kippur War. AFP via Getty Images
If Iran’s direct involvement is proven, it could further raise tensions in an already explosive region.
Although the Iranian delegation to the United Nations in New York did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, praised the attacks in a post on X, the app formerly known as Twitter.
Khamenei wrote: “The Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and Resistance forces throughout the region.”
A senior Hamas official said the group planned the attack on its own.
“This is a Palestinian and Hamas decision,” he said.
The commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, appears during an August meeting with Iran’s supreme leader. via REUTERS The border between Israel and Gaza is heavily armored, but gunmen attacked right across the line on Saturday. AFP via Getty Images Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei celebrated the attack, posting online that “the Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people.” via REUTERS
The attacks, which began in earnest around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, have already killed more than 1,100 people on both sides and injured thousands more.
Israel’s cabinet quickly invoked Article 40 Aleph, marking the nation’s first formally declared war since 1973.
On Sunday, Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared the Jewish state for a “long and difficult war” as his administration retaliated for the surprise attack.
“The war was imposed on us by a murderous attack by Hamas. The first phase ends in these hours with the destruction of the majority of the enemy forces that have penetrated our territory,” Netanyahu declared.
“We will restore security to the citizens of Israel and we will win.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn