Hamas persuaded Iran and Hezbollah to join attack on Israel in 2023 - NYT

According to the documents seized by the Israeli military and obtained by the newspaper's journalists, the leader of Hamas's political bureau, Yahya Sinwar, together with the high command, had been planning the attack for more than two years and wanted to make it the most destructive for Israel.

According to the NYT, the minutes of secret Hamas meetings contain a detailed description of the planning of the October 7 terrorist attack, as well as Sinwar's determination to convince Iran and Hezbollah to participate in the attack or, at the very least, to commit to a larger struggle against Israel if Hamas does organize a raid across the border.

Documents verified by journalists say that Hamas initially planned to carry out an attack in the fall of 2022. However, the group postponed the plan in an attempt to convince Iran and Hezbollah to participate.

In July 2023, Hamas sent a senior official to Lebanon, where he met with a high-ranking Iranian commander and asked for help in striking vulnerable targets at the beginning of the offensive. The latter responded by saying that Iran and Hezbollah support Hamas, but that they need more time to prepare. The minutes did not indicate how detailed the plan was that Hamas submitted to its allies.

The NYT goes on to say that Hamas was confident of the general support of its allies but concluded that the group might have to act without their full participation. In part, this was to prevent Israel from deploying a new advanced air defense system before the attack.

The decision to attack was also influenced by Hamas's desire to thwart efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the strengthening of Israel's occupation of the West Bank, and Israel's attempts to tighten control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.

The group deliberately avoided major clashes with Israel for two years starting in 2021 to maximize the surprise of the October 7 attack. According to the leaders, they “must convince the enemy that Hamas in Gaza wants peace.”

The newspaper recalled that about 1200 people died as a result of the Hamas attack on Israel. After that, the Israeli side began bombing and invading Gaza, killing tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians and militants.

Eventually, this escalated into a larger war between Israel and Hamas' regional allies, which led to Israel's assassination of high-ranking Iranian and Hezbollah leaders, an invasion of Lebanon, and Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel.