Recently revealed records from Hamas’s political leadership show that the group’s brutal October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel was deliberately orchestrated to derail the growing momentum of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. According to the Wall Street Journal, internal minutes from a Hamas meeting dated October 2 detail how Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, pressed for bold action to sabotage what he saw as a dangerous diplomatic development undermining the Palestinian issue.
Sinwar stated, “There is no doubt that the Saudi-Zionist normalization agreement is progressing significantly,” warning that such a deal “would open the door for the majority of Arab and Islamic countries to follow the same path.” He urged Hamas to carry out an “extraordinary act” to prevent the normalization process between Israel and Saudi Arabia from moving forward.
The massacre, which claimed the lives of close to 1,200 Israelis, triggered a forceful military response from Israel. The retaliatory campaign inflicted widespread devastation on Gaza, leaving thousands dead and major portions of infrastructure in ruins. In the wake of the violence, Saudi Arabia reportedly froze normalization talks with Israel and signaled that any future dialogue would hinge on the establishment of a ceasefire and tangible progress toward a Palestinian state.
The documents also reveal that Hamas sought to intensify unrest in Judea and Samaria as well as in Jerusalem. This was part of a broader scheme to inflame regional tensions and undermine diplomatic overtures between Israel and neighboring Arab states.
Yahya Sinwar was ultimately eliminated by IDF forces in Rafah in October 2024, just over a year after orchestrating the bloodshed.
{Matzav.com Israel}