Neither the United States nor Israel have pointed to Iran as responsible for organizing and launching the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel. That does not mean that the link between Tehran and Gaza exists and is key to the existence of the terrorist group, but it does indicate that the Islamic Republic, as far as is known, is not behind this offensive.
The last to declare it was the National Security Advisor of the United States, Jake Sullivan, who stated Tuesday at the White House that “regarding the question of whether Iran knew about this attack or assisted Hamas in this attack or directly directed it, we have no confirmation at this time of that.” With those words, Sullivan indirectly denied the exclusive of the pro-Republican Wall Street Journal, which had published extensive information on Monday in which it alleged that Iran had planned the offensive for weeks.
Nor does Israel appear to have confirmation of Iran’s aid to Hamas. The Hebrew Prime Minister himself, Benjamin (aka ‘Bibi’) Netanyahuhas not mentioned Iran in the several public appearances he has made since the start of the war, on Saturday.
And the 18 US spy agencies and Israeli security and intelligence bodies are in the same situation as Sullivan, who declared in his appearance on Tuesday that “we are talking daily with our Israeli counterparts about this issue,” referring to the degree of Iran’s involvement in the conflict. But “at the moment we do not have information about it,” he concluded, but not before repeating several times that Iran gives Hamas “the lion’s share” of its equipment and tactics.
Iran’s alleged absence from the offensive raises a series of questions that, for the moment, have no answers. Hamas is a terrorist group that, in its almost four decades of existence, had never even remotely demonstrated the capacity to carry out actions that combined pure and simple terrorism on a large scale. in the style of the Islamic State or Al Qaeda with guerrilla operations of the breadth and tactical complexity like those carried out this week. Its military level has been close to that of Hezbollah, the party – with its corresponding militia – that surrounds Israel to the north, and which is in practice an extension of Iran’s foreign policy. It seems impossible, therefore, that Hamas was able to organize the massacre without the support of a State.