Iran trained Palestinian militants shortly before attacking Israel

Iran trained about 500 Palestinian militants in the weeks before the attack on Israel, but it is unclear whether the training was part of the preparation for the 7 October attack.

Source: The Wall Street Journal with reference to sources familiar with intelligence data on the attack and US officials

Quote from the WSJ: "In the weeks leading up to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, hundreds of the Palestinian Islamist militant group’s fighters received specialised combat training in Iran, according to people familiar with intelligence related to the assault."

Details: The Wall Street Journal said that about 500 militants from Hamas and the allied group Palestinian Islamic Jihad took part in the September exercise, which was led by officers of the Quds Force, the foreign operations unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

They stated that the exercise was also attended by high-ranking Palestinian officials and Iranian Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the head of the Quds Force.

At the same time, US officials stressed that Iran regularly trains militants in its own country and other states, but the WSJ reports they said that "they have no indications of a mass training right before the attack." 

Intelligence sources and US officials familiar with the matter said they had no information to suggest that Iran had conducted training specifically to prepare for the events of 7 October.

Background:

• After the attack began, the United States officially stated that it had no evidence that Iran was directly involved in planning or approving the 7 October attacks. Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said that the information available to the United States did not indicate a direct link between Iran and the 7 October Hamas attacks. 
• At the same time, The Wall Street Journal, citing senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials, reported that Quds Force had helped plan the attack and agreed to it at a meeting in Beirut on 2 October.
• Information about the 2 October meeting has been disputed by senior US officials and others familiar with the intelligence relating to the meeting. Several US officials said that Washington had "compelling" intelligence indicating that Iranian leaders were surprised by the Hamas attack.
• However, according to Western and Egyptian officials, when the attacks began on 7 October, Hamas contacted officials of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which reports to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Lebanese Hezbollah to inform them of the attack. 
• The Israeli army commented on Wednesday on Iran's role in assisting Hamas and other militant groups: "Before the war, Iran directly helped Hamas with money, training, weapons and technological know-how. Even now, Iran is helping Hamas with intelligence."

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