The frightening 9/11-style Hamas attack planned for Tel Aviv – Firstpost

In the years leading up to the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Hamas leadership had developed plans for even deadlier attacks, documents recently captured by Israeli forces show.

Numerous media such as: The New York Times, The Washington Post And The Wall Street Journalalong with electronic records, show the group had pressed Iran for financial support and military training while mulling attacks far beyond the scale of October’s events.

These captured documents, consisting of a trove of letters and presentations, provide insight into Hamas’s broader ambitions to destroy Israel. In particular, the group had previously considered collapsing a skyscraper in Tel Aviv in the style of 9/11.

This goal was just one part of a larger plan to weaken Israel on multiple fronts. Although some proposals were impractical – such as the use of horse-drawn chariots – Hamas had also developed more practical and destructive strategies, including attacks on Israeli infrastructure such as railways and ports.

What did the documents reveal about Hamas’ intentions?

The seized documents, which Israeli officials began analyzing in October 2023, include detailed presentations and maps showing Hamas’ vision for a coordinated, multi-front attack on Israel.

Some of the proposals were ambitious or impractical, such as using chariots to transport fighters silently. However, other elements of the plan – such as targeting Israel’s rail network, military bases and commercial centers – were more developed.

A key document recovered in November 2022 outlined a series of attack options aimed at overwhelming Israel’s defenses. It showed that Hamas wanted to mobilize not only its own forces but also other allied militant groups from Lebanon, Syria and possibly Egypt.

The plan called for the use of fishing boats as improvised attack vessels, chariots for rough terrain, and fuel-laden trains as moving bombs that could cause massive explosions in Israeli cities.

The most dramatic element of the plan was an attempt to collapse a large skyscraper in Tel Aviv. Possible targets included the 70-story Moshe Aviv Tower and the Azrieli Center complex.

The collapse of any of these buildings, Hamas believes, would trigger an “unprecedented crisis” for Israel, reminiscent of the destruction of the World Trade Center towers in New York on September 11, 2001.

Although Hamas did not yet have the technical means to carry out such a blast, the plan reflected its ambition to cause mass casualties and strategic chaos in Israel’s heartland.

What do the documents reveal about Iran’s involvement?

Hamas’s relations with Iran played a central role in these attacks. The documents detail Hamas’s appeals to Iran’s top leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for significant financial and military support.

In a series of letters from 2021, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, outlined plans to use Iranian funds to train 12,000 additional fighters in the hope of wiping out Israel within two years. He called for $500 million in aid and promised that every dollar would be used to achieve the group’s “holy goal” of destroying Israel.

Sinwar’s letters emphasized the urgency of restoring Hamas’s military capabilities following the damage suffered in the 2021 Gaza conflict. Hamas asked Iran for help in replenishing its forces, saying Iran’s support would allow it to “uproot this monstrous entity” – a reference to Israel.

So did Hamas allies know about the October 7 attack?

Despite these grandiose plans, Hamas operated in extreme secrecy, particularly when it came to sharing details with its allies. According to American and Israeli intelligence assessments, Iran and Hezbollah knew that Hamas was planning a major operation, but neither group was fully aware of the scale or timing of the Oct. 7 attack.

Sinwar, known for his deep paranoia about leaks, chose not to share specific details with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) or Hezbollah, likely to avoid outside interference or maintain the element of surprise.

In the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas’s force of about 6,000 fighters breached defenses in southern Israel, overwhelming military bases and civilian communities and killing over 1,200 people. The attack, coordinated in part by Sinwar, was the deadliest act of violence against Jewish civilians since the Holocaust.

What motivated Hamas to carry out the October 7 attack?

The captured documents also shed light on Hamas’ motives for the timing of the October 7 attack. Minutes of a Hamas Politburo meeting in early October 2023 show the group’s concerns about Israel’s growing ties with Gulf Arab states, particularly in the context of the Abraham Accords.

Hamas leaders feared that this rapprochement could further weaken their “resistance project” and force them to attack before Israel becomes more politically and militarily entrenched in the region.

Hamas’s decision to act was also influenced by internal political tensions in Israel over judicial reforms, which the group saw as an opportunity to strike at a perceived moment of national unrest.

This opportunism, combined with the long-term strategic planning outlined in the captured documents, reveals the calculated nature of the attack and the group’s broader intentions to dismantle the Israeli state.

What now?

Although Hamas has urged Iran to commit to direct participation in its attack on Israel, Tehran remains hesitant. While Iran supports Hamas’s overall goal of destroying Israel, it has traditionally used proxy forces such as Hezbollah and Hamas to avoid direct military confrontation with Israel.

Still, Iran’s support for Hamas has been extensive, as evidenced by intelligence reports that show Iran has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas’s military wing in recent years.

Hamas’ October 7 attack, now just one part of a broader, long-planned campaign, has deepened the regional conflict.

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Although initially hesitant to become directly involved, Iran became involved in the fighting, particularly after Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran-linked sites in Syria and Lebanon. Hezbollah’s increasing rocket attacks from Lebanon and Israel’s retaliatory strikes have heightened tensions along Israel’s northern border.

Meanwhile, the war in Gaza has taken a heavy toll, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Over 42,000 people were reportedly killed. More than 2,000 people have died in Lebanon and the conflict shows no signs of de-escalating as Israel intensifies its military campaign against Hamas and Hezbollah.

With input from agencies