Secret documents show that Hamas tried to persuade Iran to join the attack on Israel on October 7

A new journalistic report shed light on how Hamas planned for years its bloody terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, when more than 1,200 people, including 46 Americans and citizens from more than 30 countries, were massacred by the group's militants who invaded Israeli land.

According to a series of secret documents obtained by The New York Times, Hamas planned for years its attacks and, while doing so, tried to persuade Iran and the terrorist group Hezbollah to join its plans.

The newspaper, which reviewed and verified the minutes of 10 meetings between top Hamas leaders, found that for more than two years, Yahya Sinwar, its leader, met with his top commanders in the groups to plan "the most devastating and destabilizing attack on Israel in the militant group’s four-decade history."

During those two years, between 2021 and 2023, Hamas purposely avoided escalations with Israel to give a false impression that the group was deterred.

But minutes of meetings, which were seized by Israel's military during a raid in Gaza, showed that it was all part of Hamas' strategy, which succeeded in circumventing Israeli defense and intelligence.

Notably, the records reviewed by the NYT also show Sinwar's intention to persuade his allies, Iran and Hezbollah, to join the massive attack or at least commit to a broader fight against Israel if Hamas eventually made a surprise incursion into Israeli territory.

At present, Israel has already attacked not only Hamas, but also Iranian targets and in Lebanon, leaving Hezbollah very shaken after a series of surgical and precise strikes against its leaders.

According to an NYT summary, the minutes show several key points about Hamas's strategy for carrying out the attack and how the plan unfolded.

First, the terror group initially planned to carry out the attack, which it had dubbed "the big project," in the fall of 2022. However, the entire plan was delayed as Hamas leaders tried to convince Hamas and Hezbollah to participate in the operation.

Second, Hamas' planning around a "destabilizing" attack on Israel came amid the controversial judicial reform proposed by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Allegedly, the reform made Hamas leaders feel "compelled to move toward a strategic battle."

Another Hamas motivation, according to the minutes, was to disrupt efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

As early as mid-2023, the terrorist group sent a senior official to Lebanon for a meeting with an Iranian commander. At that meeting, the Hamas official requested support for targeting sensitive sites at the start of the invasion. According to the records, while Iran's role in the attack was not confirmed, the senior Iranian official said that Iran and Hezbollah supported the idea of the attack but needed time to prepare.

In turn, the disclosed documents mention that Hamas planned to discuss the attack in more detail in a subsequent meeting with Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader at the time. However, the minutes do not detail whether the meeting took place.

What is clear is that Hamas felt certain that it had the backing of its allies to attack Israel. However, in their conclusions, the officials decided that it might be best for their strategy to invade without their direct involvement, seeking to prevent Israel from being able to detect the attack and counter their plans.