Protocols of secret Hamas meetings, captured by Israeli military and obtained by The New York Times, contain detailed information about the planning of the terrorist attack on October 7. According to these documents, Yahya Sinwar tried to persuade Hamas allies — Iran and Hezbollah — to join the attack or at least participate in a broader struggle against Israel if Hamas carried out an unexpected terrorist attack.
The documents, which were found on a computer in an underground command post of the group in southern Gaza, consist of protocols of 10 secret meetings of a small group of Hamas political and military leaders ahead of the October 7, 2023 attack.
Initially, Hamas planned to carry out the attack in the fall of 2022, but the group delayed the implementation of the plan, trying to persuade Iran and Hezbollah to participate. In July 2023, Hamas sent its senior official to Lebanon, where he met with a senior Iranian commander and asked for help in striking important targets at the beginning of the attack. The documents also state that Hamas planned to discuss the attack in more detail at a subsequent meeting with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, but it is not specified whether this discussion took place. Hamas leaders in Gaza stated that they informed Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas in Qatar, about the "big project."
The protocols also indicate that Hamas 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 calm."
As a result of the attack on Israel, about 1,200 people were killed, Israel began bombings and an invasion of Gaza, where thousands of Palestinian militants and civilians were killed. Ultimately, this escalated into a broader war between Israel and Hamas's regional allies, leading to the destruction of high-ranking leaders of Iran and Hezbollah by Israel and an invasion of Lebanon, as well as Iran striking Israel with ballistic missiles.
Photo: The New York Times