Hamas Attacked Israel On Oct 7 To Disrupt Its Talk With Saudi, Reveal Tunnel Papers
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Former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar believed only an "extraordinary act" could prevent Saudi-Israel talks.
As tensions continue to prevail in the Middle East, new documents, allegedly recovered in a tunnel beneath Gaza, have revealed that the Iran-backed militant group Hamas attacked the Jewish nation in order to disrupt its talks Saudi Arabia over normalising ties.
The documents were accessed by The Wall Street Journal.
The documents further revealed that former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed an in Israeli attack, believed that only an 'extraordinary act" could refrain the two nations from strengthening ties given an Israel-Saudi Arabia deal would turn the tables for political dynamics in the Middle East.
Notably, the Gaza-based terror group had launched a deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, while left over 1200 people dead and many held hostages. This attack triggered a retaliatory attacks on Palestinians, which has so far claimed lives of more than 53,000 civilians.
The records from one of the tunnels in the Hamas underground network also provides a detail of a key meeting of Hamas's leaders just five days prior to the attack.
Earlier in 2023, Saudi Arabia, the most powerful Sunni country in the Middle East, was about to sign a deal with Netanyahu-led nation, when the Israel-Hamas tensions escalated and the deal got shelved. Some reports claim that experts suggest that Iran, the biggest Shia power in the Middle East, orchestrated the attack against Isreal.
During October 2, 2023, meeting, Sinwar reportedly announced that only a high-impact action could prevent the Saudi-Israeli deal from taking shape.
Besides, there was another document, September 2023 Hamas report, that mentioned intensifying unrest in the West Bank and Jerusalem to complicate the Saudi-Israeli negotiations.
Another classified Hamas memo from August 2022 underlined rising alarm over a regional push to normalise ties with Israel, suggesting this trend as a direct threat to the Palestinian national struggle.
The memo emphasised the need for Hamas to bolster itself strategically, which included enhancing ties with groups like Hezbollah and other Palestinian factions.
Oct 7 Attack: Fresh Documents Indicate Iran-Hamas Link
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing both Israeli and regional intelligence sources, reported that discussions between Hamas and Iranian security officials had been underway since 2021.
Iran was instrumental in strengthening the Hamas army by providing it with financial aid, arms, and combat training, especially in the weeks leading up to the October 7 attack.
However, officials also noted that both Iran and Hezbollah had warned Hamas against entering into a a full-scale war with Israel.
The seized reports also brings to the fore the fact that Hamas had begun institutionalising its anti-normalization efforts well before the massacre. Further in October 2022, the Gaza-based militant group had posted for a job vacany seeking a university-educated individual with negotiation skills to lead its campaign against Arab-Israeli normalisation.
The Wall Street Journal report also mentioned that an internal briefing marked 'secret" from August 2022, written by Hamas's military leadership, concluded with the following text: 'It has become the duty of the movement to reposition itself to preserve the survival of the Palestinian cause in the face of the broad wave of normalisation by Arab countries, which aims primarily to liquidate the Palestinian cause."
As a response, Hamas was bolstering its ties with Lebanon-based Hezbollah as well as other Palestinian militant factions, the briefing says.
The responsibilities involved engaging grassroots groups and promoting boycotts against organisations backing diplomatic coordination with Israel.
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First Published:
May 26, 2025, 16:27 IST
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