A little over a month ago, a former counter-terrorism adviser to two Israeli prime ministers authored a prescient essay, outlining an invasion of the Hamas terrorist movement into Israel.
Yigal Carmon, the founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), wrote on August 31, in a piece titled the “Signs Of Possible War In September-October,” that “there has been an increase in efforts by Iran and Hezbollah to smuggle weapons into the West Bank, similar to the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
“Lately,” he continued, “there have been growing indications that a war against Israel may break out in September or October. The trigger may be spiraling violent clashes resulting in many casualties, or the use of new weapons leading to many fatalities on the Israeli side,” wrote Carmon, who worked to combat terrorism for Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin.
He also noted the recent reports about “the potential use of new weapons by Hezbollah, Hamas, and the PIJ that can cause a large number of Israeli fatalities, such as extra-powerful explosive charges and rockets fired on Israeli localities... In this situation, Israel will likely be compelled to undertake a large-scale response, above and beyond its routine counterterrorism measures, even at the cost of an all-out war.”
PIJ secretary-general Ziad Al-Nakhaleh said that, during his June meeting with Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei, the latter had “reiterated [the need to] develop the arming of the West Bank and the resistance there.”
Nakhaleh added that “We, as Palestinians and as resistance forces and movements, understand the importance of arming the West Bank, but this requires efforts by the Palestinians themselves, and also the assistance of our brothers in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Predicting the attacks
Carmon told The Jerusalem Post that the attack aimed “to prevent normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” with respect to bilateral diplomatic relations.
The role of Iran in all this was covered in other parts of his essay, as Israeli and American politicians stressed that the Hamas invasion was backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Likud MK Yuli Edelstein told the Post “Israel woke up this morning to a coordinated and murderous terrorist attack. Israel is doing everything to protect its citizens against this brutal attack. Hamas carried out the attack, but Iran is the one behind this shocking murder of dozens of innocent Israeli women, children, and men. The murderous Iranian regime will remember this day and will lick their wounds for many years to come due to the Israeli response.”
He added that “Israel has the moral authority to dismantle the murderous terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and Iran.”
Republican Congressman Cory Mills (R-FL) told the Post, “I support Israel’s right to defend itself, and its citizens, and eliminate the terrorists threatening the stability of the region. It’s clear to me that this is the work of Iranian-backed Hamas, aimed at disrupting talks with Saudi Arabia and the expansion of the Trump-era Abraham Accords.”
Mills, who is a war veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, added that “[US President Joe] Biden’s decision to release $6 billion in frozen assets to Iran serves as a stark reminder of the consequences that took pla
“This well-coordinated, multi-pronged Hamas attack was directed by Iran, reminiscent of Quds Force-led proxy militia attacks in Iraq against US installations and allies,” he added.