No country, including Iran, knew about Hamas’ brutal Saturday attack on Israel before it happened, a senior Hamas official told Russia Today on Sunday, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Senior Hamas Official Ali Baraka: We Have Been Secretly Planning the Invasion for Two Years; Russia Sympathizes with Us, Benefits from U.S. Embroilment in This War; Any Swap Deal Should Include Hamas Prisoners in Europe and the U.S. #Hamas #Russia #Israel_under_attack pic.twitter.com/JNGQotkKg5
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 11, 2023
“The zero hour was kept completely secret,” Ali Baraka, the head of Hamas National Relations Abroad, told RT, MEMRI reported. “A limited number of Hamas leaders knew it. The number of people who knew about the attack and its timing could be counted on one hand,” Baraka said, according to MEMRI.
“We made them think that Hamas was busy with governing Gaza. And that it wanted to focus on the 2.5 million Palestinians and has abandoned the resistance altogether. All the while, under the table, Hamas was preparing for this big attack.”
Baraka claimed Hamas told nobody about the attack.
“In order to keep the attack a secret and successful, the different factions and our allies did not know the zero hour. But after half an hour, all the Palestinian resistance factions were contacted. As were our allies in Hizbullah and Iran,” according to the translation by MEMRI.
He also noted other regional powers were notified after the assault.
“The Turks were also notified, and a meeting was held with them three hours later, at 9 a.m. We updated anyone who contacted us. Even the Russians sent a message and enquired, and they were updated about the situation and about the goals of the war,” he said, according to MEMRI.
The statement contradicts a Wall Street Journal report that claimed Iran helped Hamas plot the attack over the course of several weeks. (RELATED: Lindsey Graham Calls On US To Blow Up Iran’s Oil Refineries If Hostages Are Harmed)
White House and State Department spokesmen have also received significant pushback from American reporters over a $6 billion in apparent humanitarian funds the Biden administration sent to Iran. Fox News’ Brett Baier pointed out to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby that the funds could theoretically be used to fund Hamas.