Hamas leaders planned Oct. 7 massacres without Iran’s knowledge – report

Report contradicts claims by Iran that it was involved in planning Oct. 7th attacks as revenge for killing of top general.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Only three senior Hamas leaders knew details of the October 7th attack plans, and other high-ranking members of the terrorist group were informed of the operation just 30 minutes before the massacre, according to an interview with French newspaper La Figaro.

Hamas allies in Lebanon and Iran only learned of the massacre in the media after it happened.

This contradicts Iran’s recent claim that the October 7th massacre that killed 1,200 in Israel and resulted in 240 hostages was a retaliation for the killing of Soleiman, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander in 2020.

The only people who knew about the October 7th plans were senior Hamas figures  Yahya Sinwar, his brother Mohammed Sinwar, and Muhammed Al-Deif.

Khaled Mashaal, a Hamas leader living  outside of Gaza told La Figaro, “Only three people knew the exact date, time, and details of the plan.”

Mashaal also revealed that Mohammed Sinwar is responsible for building the four-kilometer tunnel discovered by IDF in Gaza.

As camouflage, Sinwar and Deif appointed new commanders to lead brigades that weren’t known to Israeli intelligence.

Lebanon-based Saleh al-Arouri, who is in charge of Hamas activities in Judea and Samaria, was told of the terror operation just 30 minutes before it began and was told to inform the head of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah.

According to the report, Hezbollah leaders were surprised by the terror attack in Southern Israel and were even more amazed that Iran wasn’t informed of it first.

It isn’t clear whether Khaled Mashaal’s statements to La Figaro are true since Hamas leaders have often been caught making inconsistent statements to the media.

In his first public statement since the October 7th massacre, Yahya Sinwar greatly exaggerated the number of IDF casualties.

Sinwar said, “During the ground war, the al-Qassam Brigades attacked at least 5,000 soldiers and officers,” he wrote. “One third of them were killed, another third were seriously injured and the last third was permanently disabled. As for military vehicles, 750 of them were killed [sic.], destroyed completely or partially.”