ficial Ali Baraka told Russian TV network RT that Hamas had been “secretly planning the invasion” for the past two years. “We made them think Hamas was busy governing Gaza . . . all the while, under the table, Hamas was prepar- ing for this big attack.” By August 2023, Hamas
officials were meeting with Iranian Quds Force leaders “at least biweekly in Lebanon to discuss the attack on Israel and what happens next,” The Wall Street Journal reported. Quds Force commander
Qaani attended some of those meetings, along with Hezbol-
lah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al- Nakhalah, and Hamas mili- tary chief Saleh al-Arouri. Iranian Foreign Minister
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian “attended at least two of the meetings,” the Journal re- ported, citing sources within Hamas and Hezbollah. “An attack of such scope
could only have happened af- ter months of planning and would not have happened without coordination with Iran,” Lina Khatib, a Middle East expert at the University of London, told the Journal. “Hamas, like Hezbollah
Statements by Iran Leaders on Hamas Attacks
A
dviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ya- hya Rahim Safavi told semi-official ISNA news site on Oct. 7, 2023: “We
congratulate the Palestinian fighters . . . We will stand by the Palestinian fighters until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem.” IRGC Deputy Commander Gen. Moham-
mad Reza Naqdi, on Oct. 10, 2023: “After the operation, the illusion of the invincibility of the Zionist regime and its false power be- came evident to the whole world.” IRGC Deputy Commander in Chief Rear
in Lebanon, does not single- handedly make decisions to engage in war without prior explicit agreement with Iran.” Ahmed Abdulhadi, Hamas’
representative in Lebanon, confirmed that coordination in an audio exchange on X, for- merly known as Twitter, with a reporter from Newsweek. “We coordinated with He-
zbollah and with Iran and the Axis before, during, and after this battle at the highest level,” he said, referring to the so-called “Axis of Resistance” against Israel. That coordination “has
many dimensions — politi- cal, military, and others,” he added.
Second Front
in North Those coordination meetings between top Hamas officials and their Iranian counter- parts continued in the imme- diate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks in Qatar, Lebanon, and Iran. But Hamas is just one of
Adm. Ali Fadavi, at a ceremony in north- ern Iran, Oct. 10, 2023: “The al Aqsa Storm Operation was a historic movement by Hamas and Islamic Jihad that shattered the Zionist re- gime’s power in the region . . . This is a blessing that has arisen from the pure blood of those who sacrificed their lives during the Iran-Iraq War and the Islamic Revolution.” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, meeting Hamas politi-
SAFAVI
cal chief Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 14, 2023: “Supporting Pal- estine is a religious, humanitarian, and moral duty, and today, all Mus- lims, the faithful, and freedom-loving people should stand by Palestine and its oppressed people more than ever.”
the Iranian regime’s playing cards in the region. Hezbollah soon opened a
second front against Israel from Lebanon to the north, lobbing rockets into Israeli cities and attempting cross- border attacks. Israel moved Merkava
tanks and U.S.-made 155mm Paladin howitzers to north- ern Galilee to counter an eventual Hezbollah thrust and evacuated farms and vil- lages close to the border, in-
DECEMBER 2023 | NEWSMAX 67
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