Hamas Called On Iran To Join October 7 Attacks Against Israel, Say Reports | All About The 'Secret Documents'

While Iran and senior US officials have stated that Iranian officials were not involved or aware of the October 7, 2023 attacks, minutes of meetings conducted by Hamas officials suggest otherwise.

As per a report by the New York Times, certain documents, verified by the Israeli military and close sources of Hamas, state that Hamas and its leader Yahya Sinwar were working towards getting its allies - Hezbollah and Iran - involved in the attack against Israel.

What Do The 'Secret Documents' Allege?

The documents, as accessed by the New York Times, allege the following -

• The October 2023 was "delayed". As per the minutes, Hamas planned on attacking Israel in the fall of 2022. However, the plan was delayed to persuade Iran and Hezbollah to join hands with the militant group.

• The re-election of Netanyahu, Israel's judicial overhaul and the overall sentiment against Benjamin Netanyahu further "compelled Hamas to move toward a strategic battle". Furthermore, Israeli occupation of West Bank, the raids at Al Aqsa only motivated Hamas to move into Israel.

• In July 2023, Hamas sent a top official to Lebanon to meet with an Iranian commander. The minutes of the meeting state that a plan to attack Israel was presented, but it does not indicate how detailed it was. As per the document, the Iranian commander and Hezbollah officials supported the principle but needed "more time to prepare".

• The documents also reveal that Hamas planned on discussing the attack with Hassan Nasrallah, but it remains unclear if this discussion took place or not.

• As per these minutes, Hamas felt "assured" by the support from Iran and Hezbollah, but decided to proceed without their full involvement.

• In the meetings, a few major reasons Hamas attacked Israel were revealed these were - to stop Israel from deploying a new air-defence system and to disrupt the normalsiation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which the United States was brokering. This normalisation of ties would have resulted in the integration of Israel in the Middle East, but with no resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

• As per NYT, Hamas also decided to avoid major confrontations with Israel since 2021 in order to maximise the element of surprise of the October 7 attacks. The idea behind this, as revealed by documents accessed during the start of the war, was to "make the enemy believe Hamas wants calm in Gaza".

How Were These 'Secret Documents' Found?

As per NYT, the minutes of these Hamas meetings were discovered on a computer found in late January by Israeli soldiers. As per the Israeli military, the computer was found in the underground Hamas command centre in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

While NYT claims to have verified the authenticity of these reports, official statements from Hamas and Hezbollah are awaited, while the Israeli military has declined to comment on the matter.

Did Iran Know Hamas Was Going To Attack Israel?

The latest documents suggest that Iran was aware of the steps being taken by Hamas to launch its "Operation Al Aqsa Flood" on October 7, 2023. However, Iran's official and public stand remains that it was not involved in the attack, nor was it aware.

Even Hezbollah's involvement in the plan remains uncertain. However, a day after Hamas launched its attack and Israel waged a war, Hezbollah pledged its alliance to Hamas and carried out cross-border attacks into Israel. This conflict with Hezbollah has now resulted in Israeli forces bombarding Lebanon.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has publicly denied that Iran had any role in the Oct. 7 attack. Furthermore, when the war broke out, American officials cited intelligence reports which stated that key Iranian leaders were caught by surprise by the Hamas attack.

Following the revealtions of these "secret documents", Iran's mission the United Nations have denied the claims of Tehran being involved.

"All the planning, decision-making and directing were solely executed by Hamas’s military wing based in Gaza, any claim attempting to link it to Iran or Hezbollah — either partially or wholly — is devoid of credence and comes from fabricated documents,” the Iranian statement said.

However, Hamas has always claimed it had regional support at the time of the attack. However, the exact involvement of Iran and Hezbollah remains a mystery.

Where The War Stands Today

Israel's war on Gaza has now expanded into Lebanon as Israeli forces move in to "eliminate Hezbollah", a goal similar to the reason behind Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip.

The recent escalation in the Middle East has also sparked fears of a bigger conflict and war in West Asia, especially with Iran now exchanging direct fire with Israel.

The first-time Iran exchanged fire with Israel was after the bombing of the Iranina embassy in Damascus, which resulted in the death of two senior IRGC officials.

As tensions flared up, Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Dief (the "mastermind of the October 7 attacks") and Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah were killed in targetted Israeli strikes, prompting a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles over Tel Aviv last month.