One of the “key moments” in Israel’s 12-day war with Iran took place when one of the planners of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel was killed by an Israeli air strike in the Iranian city of Qom.
Saeed Izadi, the commander of the Palestine division in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force, was killed on June 21, several days before a ceasefire ended the war.
In a separate air strike in western Iran on the same day, Israel eliminated Behnam Shahriyari, Izadi’s colleague in the Quds Force. Shahriyari was responsible for the clandestine transfer of weapons to Iranian proxies in the Axis of Resistance: Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis of Yemen. He had been sought by Israel since 2009.
Izadi, a more important figure in Iran’s efforts to surround Israel with a “ring of fire,” coordinated relations between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hamas before and after October 7 and was one of the architects of the invasion Hamas launched on that fateful day.
According to the Israel Defence Forces, he was among a select few who knew it was in the planning stage.
Describing his assassination as “one of the key moments” of the war and “a tremendous intelligence and operational achievement,” General Eyal Zamir, the chief of staff of Israel’s armed forces, said he managed Iran’s relationship with Hamas and was a confidant of two of its leaders, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, both of whom were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip last year.
Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, said that Izadi was at the heart of Iran’s campaign to fund and arm Hamas prior to October 7.
Two months ago, Katz disclosed that Israeli troops found Hamas documents in the tunnels of Gaza that prove that Iran was aware of Hamas’ intention to attack Israel.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has publicly denied that the Iranian regime had any role in the October 7 onslaught, which triggered the still ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
But last October, as he led Friday prayers in Tehran, Khamenei praised October 7 as a “logical and internationally legal action” to counter Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands. Likening Israel to a “rabid dog,” he said that any strike on “the Zionist regime is a service to humanity.”
Two years before the invasion was carried out, Sinwar and Deif wrote a letter to Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani seeking $500 million for their plan to invade and destroy Israel. “We are confident that, God willing, we will uproot this monstrous entity … and end this dark period in the history of our nation,” their letter read.
Fully in accord with their plan, Qaani passed it on to Izadi. He, in turn, promised to funnel funds to Hamas to the tune of $20 million per month. Iran provided this assistance despite the severe economic problems it was experiencing due to crippling Western sanctions.
“The conclusion is clear,” said Katz. “Iran is the head of the snake, despite its denials.”
According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in Israel, Iran was an essential player in Hamas’ preparations to attack Israel.
On December 18, 2022, Marwan Issa — the deputy commander of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades and one of the first Hamas commanders to be slain by Israel — informed Sinwar in a letter that Iran had agreed to provide Hamas with $7 million in funding per month to prepare for a war with Israel. This letter was found by Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
Another document shows that Hamas operatives went to Iran in 2019 to receive advanced training in the use of drones.
Judging by the evidence, it is clear that Iran, its denials notwithstanding, was at the core of Hamas’ plan to destroy Israel on October 7.