Wall Street Journal: Iranian Quds Force Implicated in Planning Recent Gaza Attack on Israel

Wall Street Journal has reported on the alleged involvement of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in planning the recent attack on settlements surrounding Gaza. Citing sources within Hamas and Hezbollah, the newspaper claims that representatives from these organizations have been meeting with Quds Force members since August.

These meetings purportedly included figures such as Quds Force Commander Ismail Qaani, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad Organization Secretary General Ziad al-Nakhla, and Hamas's Deputy Head of the Political Bureau, Salah al-Aruri.

The report suggests that the attack, which commenced yesterday and resulted in over 700 Israeli casualties, was decided upon during a meeting in the Lebanese capital last Monday. The Quds Force was previously linked to planning a rocket attack from southern Lebanon into Israeli territory during Passover earlier this year.

The United States, however, has not yet found evidence of direct Iranian involvement in the attack. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in an interview with CNN, stated, "We have not yet seen proof that Iran ordered this attack or is behind it, but their historic ties with these organizations are known."

A source in Washington echoed this sentiment, saying that the Biden administration "does not have any information that verifies what is described in the report." Meanwhile, Mahmoud Mirdawi, a senior operative in Hamas, asserted that the organization alone planned the attack, describing it as "a Palestinian and Hamas decision."

Iran has vehemently denied any involvement in the attack, with its delegation to the United Nations stating, "We support the Palestinians, but we were not involved in the response, which is a decision of Palestine alone." Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi reportedly spoke with Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's political bureau, and Jihad al-Nakhla in the wake of the attack. Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, even praised the attack on his Twitter account.

Sources within Hamas and Hezbollah, who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, suggested that the timing of the attack was aimed at undermining Israel, which is currently grappling with internal political disputes and engaged in advanced normalization talks with Saudi Arabia, mediated by the United States.

According to these sources, Iran has recently shifted its focus towards the conflict with Israel and has redirected resources from other regions, including Yemen, to support and arm various organizations working against Israel. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, confirmed knowledge of meetings in Syria and Lebanon "between the leaders of the terrorist armies surrounding Israel."

The situation continues to evolve, with international actors closely monitoring developments and tensions escalating in the Middle East.