Secret documents show Hamas tried to persuade Iran to join its Oct. 7 attack

For more than two years, Yahya Sinwar huddled with his top Hamas commanders and plotted what they hoped would be the most devastating and destabilizing attack on Israel in the militant group’s four-decade history.

Minutes of Hamas’ secret meetings, seized by the Israeli military and obtained by The New York Times, provide a detailed record of the planning for the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, as well as Sinwar’s determination to persuade Hamas’ allies, Iran and Hezbollah, to join the assault or at least commit to a broader fight with Israel.

The documents consist of minutes from 10 secret planning meetings of a small group of Hamas political and military leaders in the run-up to the Oct. 7 attack. The minutes include 30 pages of previously undisclosed details about the way Hamas’ leadership works and the preparations that went into its attack.