Iranian officials helped plot the Hamas attack on Israel for the last several weeks, according to an exclusive report from The Wall Street Journal.
Security officials reportedly gave the green light for the attack at a meeting in Beirut last Monday, according to members of Hamas and Hezbollah, another group backed by Iran.
Officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had allegedly been working with Hamas since August.
There were allegedly several meetings that took place in Beirut leading up to the attack that were attended by IRGC officers and representatives of four Iran-backed militant groups that included Hamas, the sources said.
As of now, U.S. officials say they haven’t seen evidence of Iran’s involvement.
“We have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack, but there is certainly a long relationship," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a CNN interview.
A European official and adviser to the Syrian government reportedly gave the outlet an account of Iran’s involvement in the lead-up to the attack.
Palestinian terrorists in Gaza launched an attack against Israel on Saturday with rockets and ground forces, inflicting significant casualties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war following the attack.
Israeli soldiers fought Hamas militants in the streets of several southern cities on Sunday while repelling a rocket attack from Hezbollah terrorists in the north as America’s closest ally in the Middle East, Israel, formally declared it was at war for the first time in a half century.
The death toll has surpassed 1,100 in Israel and Gaza, according to reports. That includes more than 700 Israelis and more than 400 Palestinians.
“We will go through every community until we kill every terrorist that is in Israeli territory,” Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters. “Every terrorist located in a house, all the commanders in houses, will be hit by Israeli fire. That will continue escalating in the coming hours.”
