By Al-Fassel | 2023-10-26

Hundreds of fighters from Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad received specialized combat training in Iran prior to the October 7 surprise attack on Israel, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Wednesday (October 25).

Roughly 500 militants from the two terrorist groups took part in training exercises led by officers of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to people familiar with intelligence related to the assault.

Quds Force leader Esmail Qaani and senior Palestinian officials were also in attendance, the newspaper reported.

The Hamas terrorists who stormed across the Gaza border used aerial drones to disable Israeli observation posts and high-tech surveillance equipment, WSJ reported.

"Some used paragliders to fly into Israel. Others rode on motorcycles, commonly used by Iranian paramilitary groups but not by Hamas until October 7," it said.

Support from Iran

Evidence suggests Iran knew in advance that Hamas was planning to strike Israel, although Iran has denied any involvement in the attack.

Senior Hamas officials told the WSJ on October 8 that IRGC officers helped devise the attacks over the course of several meetings held in Beirut since August.

They said the Iranian officials "gave the green light for the assault at a meeting in Beirut" on October 2.

Representatives of four Iran-backed militant and terrorist groups reportedly attended the meeting, including Hamas and Hizbullah, the officials said.

An adviser to the Syrian government and a European official gave the same account of Iran's involvement to the WSJ.

The United States has said it has no evidence that Iran was directly involved in planning or approving the October 7 attack, but there is little doubt that Hamas is "financed, equipped and armed" by countries including Iran.

Hamas "wouldn't be Hamas without the support it's had for many years from Iran," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said October 8.

Hamas officials have boasted of Iran's support since the attacks.

"Hizbullah and Iran supported us with weapons, expertise and technology," Khaled Meshaal, a senior Hamas official in Doha, said in an interview with Al Arabiya last week.

Ongoing coordination

Hamas contacted the IRGC and and Hizbullah officials abroad to inform them of the beginning of the attack on October 7, according to Western and Egyptian officials.

"Since then, the IRGC, Hizbullah, Hamas and other militias in the region say they have been in close contact to coordinate their activities," the WSJ reported.

Qaani visited Lebanon in recent days to consult with Hamas and Hizbullah officials, militant leaders and an IRGC adviser told the newspaper.

Hizbullah and Hamas have long been part of a "joint operations room" with the Quds Force, a source close to Hizbullah told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Similarly, senior officials of Hamas and Islamic Jihad have held talks with Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah about their war with Israel, the Lebanese group said Wednesday.

The Hizbullah statement did not specify when or where Nasrallah met with Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri and Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh beyond saying that it was at an undisclosed location in Lebanon.

News of the meeting comes as Hizbullah and allied Palestinian factions exchange daily fire with the Israeli army across the Lebanon-Israel border, raising fears of a new front in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Nasrallah and the Palestinian militant leaders "agreed to keep coordinating and daily following up on developments," Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV said.