New details emerge about Iran’s role in Hamas’ deadly October 7 assault on Israel

In a shocking revelation, i24 TV's Arab affairs columnist Baruch Yedid reported that Iran was aware of Hamas' plans for the deadly attack on Israel as early as the summer of 2023, per Caliber.Az.

According to Yedid, senior Hamas officials travelled to Beirut in July to meet with representatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), where they shared details about their planned attack, including its execution date — October 7.

Yedid speculates that Iran's decision to withhold this critical information from Hezbollah may have been due to a desire not to interfere with Hezbollah's own plans for a potential invasion of northern Israeli territories. Alternatively, Iran may have chosen to prioritize Hezbollah, its key regional ally, over Hamas, potentially sacrificing the latter's operations in order to avoid compromising Hezbollah’s strategic objectives in the region.

The attack carried out by Hamas-led militants on October 7, 2023, began with a massive bombardment of Israeli territory, involving the launch of 2,500 to 5,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel. In addition to the rocket fire, more than 2,500 Hamas militants infiltrated Israel by land, sea, and air, targeting civilian population centres, including border kibbutzim and the town of Sderot. The assault led to the deaths of over 1,200 Israelis, including many attendees of a music festival, and the capture of 251 hostages. The violence included reports of widespread sexual assault, further intensifying the brutality of the attack.

The attack was widely recognized as the deadliest act of terrorism in history, marking the largest mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust. In response, the Israeli government declared martial law and launched Operation Iron Swords — the first large-scale military operation since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

International reactions to the attack have been sharply divided. Western nations, including the US, Japan, Ukraine and others, condemned Hamas for war crimes, calling its actions terrorism. In stark contrast, most Arab and Muslim countries placed blame on Israel, attributing the violence to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

As Israel continued its military operations, airstrikes in Gaza resulted in catastrophic casualties. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, with 17,881 children and 12,316 women among the dead. The number of injured has exceeded 111,000, further escalating the already dire humanitarian crisis in the region.

By Tamilla Hasanova