Only three Hamas terrorists knew the date and time of the Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 people in Israel, and they only shared the plan with allies some 30 minutes before the invasion began.
Lebanon-based Saleh al-Arouri, who oversees Hamas activities in Judea and Samaria, was informed of the impending attack half an hour beforehand so he could alert Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah, French outlet Le Figaro reports.
Osama Hamdan, another top Hamas representative in Lebanon, found out about the assault from the media, according to the newspaper.
The report quotes Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal as saying: “Only three people knew the exact date, time and details of the plan.”
Hezbollah and its patrons in Iran were reportedly surprised by the attack.
On Wednesday, Tehran claimed that the massacre was a response to the United States’ 2020 targeted killing in Baghdad of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
“The Al-Aqsa Flood was one of the acts of revenge for the assassination of General Soleimani by the U.S. and the Zionists,” IRGC spokesman Brig. Gen. Ramezan Sharif told Iran’s state-run ISNA news agency, using Hamas’s name for the Oct. 7 slaughter.
In response, Hamas insisted that the massacre was retaliation to alleged Israeli “crimes” at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
In an interview published in Le Figaro on Wednesday, Mashaal extended a hand to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction, telling the newspaper that the Islamist terrorist group is willing to consider joining a P.A.-led governing body for the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria.
“Rebuilding the Palestinian political scene without Hamas is a move destined for failure, but we are ready for reorganization within the framework of the PLO as part of a national consensus,” Mashaal told the French daily from his residence in Doha’s embassy district.
“Sooner or later, the United States will argue that Hamas is a reality and enjoys legitimacy among the people,” Mashaal predicted. “We must learn from history. The Americans accepted the Taliban. [PLO founder] Yasser Arafat even won the Nobel Peace Prize.”
