A senior Hamas official told Russian Today TV that a small faction of the terrorist group planned the attack on Israel for two years, after the Biden administration's deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, adding that Hamas received help from Iran.
The Hamas official, Ali Baraka, made the remarks in the interview on Sunday, the day after the initial incursion and at a time when Hamas was still wreaking havoc in Israel.
The Israeli death toll hit 1,200 on Thursday with at least 27 Americans dead.
"We have been preparing for this for two years," Baraka said.
That timeline began after the deadly bombing at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021, that killed 183 people, including 13 American service members.
"The zero hour was kept completely secret. 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 told Russian Today TV. "We made them think that Hamas was busy with governing Gaza, and that it wanted to focus on the 2.5 million Palestinians [in Gaza] and has abandoned the resistance altogether."
All the while, under the table, Hamas was "preparing for this big attack," Baraka said.
It worked. The massive intelligence failure of Israel and the United States will be dissected in the coming months. Al-Monitor reported that Hamas was surprised with the ease with which it was able to kill and abduct so many Israelis.
"They hoped to kill some Israelis, embarrass the IDF and return to Gaza with two or three kidnapped Israelis. Instead, they roamed inside Israel for more than a day, killing over a thousand Israelis and getting stuck with something like 200 abductees," Al-Monitor quoted a diplomat as saying.
"With two abductees, they could have negotiated with Israel for permission to build a seaport and freedom for hundreds of prisoners held in Israeli jails. With more than 100 abductees, they will face the entire Israeli army inside Gaza. That's the tragedy of their success."
Breitbart reported that a purported Hamas manual was found at the scene of one of the attacks inside Israel. The manual detailed taking "prisoner soldiers, residents, and … hostages for negotiations."
Baraka also talked of a prisoner swap, including with the U.S., much like the deal it had done with Iran last month.
"There are also prisoners in the U.S. We want them. Of course. We demand that the U.S. free our sons from prisons. The U.S. conducts prisoner swaps. Only recently, it did one with Iran. Why wouldn't it conduct a prisoner swap with us? After all, it is participating in this war," Baraka said.
"Biden, the highest authority in the U.S., declared that he stands with Israel against Hamas and the Palestinian people. Therefore, he is a partner to this aggression, he must pay the price."
Baraka said allies of Hamas, including Russia, were purposely kept in the dark "to keep the attack secret and successful." But then Hezbollah and Turks were notified 30 minutes after the attack began.
"The different factions and our allies did not know the zero hour," Baraka said. "Even the Russians sent a message and inquired, and they were updated about the situation and about the goals of the war."
While the Biden administration continues to waffle about Iran's involvement, Baraka became the second Hamas official to confirm the assistance.
"Our allies are those that support us with weapons and money. First and foremost it is Iran that is giving us money and weapons," Baraka said.
Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad told the BBC on Saturday that Iran gave its full support to launch the attacks.
"Even Russia sympathizes with us," Baraka said. "Russia is happy that America is getting embroiled in Palestine. It alleviates the pressure on the Russians in Ukraine. One war eases the pressure in another war. So we are not alone on the battlefield."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.