The minutes of secret Hamas meetings, consulted by the New York Timesreveal that the movement had tried to gain support from Iran and Hezbollah to launch what it hoped would be “the collapse» from Israel.
One year after the bloody attacks of October 7, 2023 which left 1,200 dead in Israel, documents seized by the Israeli army and consulted by the New York Times allow us to better understand the long and meticulous planning of this operation.
For more than two years, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar met with his top commanders to orchestrate what he hoped would be the most devastating attack ever against Israel and “the collapse» of the Hebrew State.
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The minutes of these ten secret meetings reveal that to achieve this, he would have tried to convince his allies, Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah, to join the assault, or at least to engage in a more serious struggle. intense against Israel following the attack he planned.
“The big project”
Named “the big project“, the October 7 attacks were originally planned for fall 2022, but Hamas reportedly postponed them in hopes of creating this alliance.
According to the New York Times always, Hamas would then have encountered “a high-ranking Iranian commander» in July 2023 who allegedly told him that Iran and Hezbollah were in favor of the project, but that they needed time to prepare.
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Hamas also planned to discuss its plan in more detail with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah at the time, who was recently assassinated by the Israeli army. But there is no information on whether this exchange finally took place.
Hamas’ motivations
«Hamas felt assured of the general support of its allies, but concluded that it might have to move forward without their full participation», note our colleagues when reading these documents, in particular to anticipate the imminent establishment of a new Israeli air defense system.
In order to deceive the Jewish state and take it by surprise, Hamas would have remained discreet for two years, avoiding any major confrontation with it from 2021. The masterminds of the attacks thus heard “keep the enemy convinced that Hamas in Gaza (wants) calm».
The 30 pages of minutes also make it possible to know that Hamas’ motivations were aimed at disrupting relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, at the time close to a historic peace agreement, as well as to oppose Israeli occupation in the West Bank and control of the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, considered sacred in Islam and Judaism.
