When Hamas launched its horrific surprise attack on Israel, invading it by land, air, and sea, many observers immediately believed that Iran was involved somehow. While Hamas has always had the desire to obliterate Israel, they haven’t had the means to do so. However, the sophisticated tactics used this weekend and the unprecedented scale of the attack have made it painfully obvious that Iran was involved, and now the Wall Street Journal has confirmed this suspicion.
The publication reported that Iranian security officials not only helped with the planning of the attack, but they also green-lit the plan during a recent meeting in Beirut.
Moreover, sources from Hamas and another terrorist group backed by Iran, Hezbollah, said that officers from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been working with Hamas for several months to plan sea, land and air incursions. Numerous meetings were held in the Lebanese capital to come up with the details of the attacks, and they were attended by officers from the IRGC as well as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Not surprisingly, the Biden administration has been reluctant to admit what the Wall Street Journal and other publications have already confirmed. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview on Sunday with CNN: “We have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack, but there is certainly a long relationship.”
This could be due, at least in part, to Biden’s desire to protect his chances of being reelected and keep the price of gas from climbing too much before election day. However, other officials without these concerns have confirmed the WSJ’s assertion that Iran was involved, including a Syrian government adviser and a European official. In addition, a spokesperson for Hamas, Ghazi Hamad, told the BBC that they received support from Iran.
Unfortunately, the reports say that the IRGC has an overarching plan to develop a threat to Israel from all sides, with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the West Bank and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Hezbollah in the north. Extremists in Lebanon fired a dozen rockets into Israel today, spurring fears that Hezbollah is about to join the attack.
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Michael Knights told NBC News that any time an Iranian proxy like Hamas or the Shiite militias in Iraq suddenly show a big advancement in the sophistication of their attacks, it generally turns out that Iran has been helping them.
This would also answer the question of how the militants managed to make it over the heavily fortified border from Gaza into Israel despite cutting-edge security measures and protection from one of the best military forces in the world. Backing from Iran could equip Hamas fighters with the technology and intelligence they need to breach this security.
Brutal attacks have killed hundreds and injured thousands
So far, the attacks have left more than 800 Israelis dead, with thousands more injured, and these numbers are expected to rise. Many Israelis have been taken hostage, with the attackers showing no mercy and kidnapping small children and elderly people. Americans are among the dead and hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to unleash a “mighty vengeance” against Hamas.
Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus noted: “Without Iran's funding, weapons, training, guidance and political incitement, Hamas would not have the capability nor the capacity.”
$6 billion recently handed to Iran by the Biden administration freed up more money to fund terrorism
While Iran has long been in a position to support its proxies, the $6 billion that was unfrozen just weeks ago in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Iran undoubtedly emboldened them. The Biden administration agreed to transfer the funds to Tehran in exchange for the release of five U.S citizens detained there.
While Blinken has claimed that Iran hasn’t been able to spend the money yet and there are stipulations on its use, no one can deny that knowing these funds are now available to them could have made them more willing to dig deep into their pockets in funding the Hamas attacks.
Representative Dan Bishop (R-North Carolina) wrote on X: “Biden just gave Hamas sponsor Iran $6 billion. Today, innocent Israeli citizens have paid with their lives for his and the Obama holdovers' venal incompetence. America must unflinchingly support Israel's right of self defense in all its fullness. God bless and save Israel.”
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