Senior Hamas official says Oct. 7 attack was planned for 2 years, only handful knew the date

Senior Hamas official Ali Baraka said in an interview that aired on Russia Today TV, that the terror group had planned the deadly Oct. 7 attacks in secret for two years.

“The zero hour was kept completely secret. A limited number of Hamas leaders knew it,” Barak said. “The number of people who knew about the attack and its timing could be counted on one hand.”

“In order to keep the attack secret and successful,” Bakara stated, “the different factions and our allies did not know the zero hour.”

Within half an hour of starting the operation, which began around 6 a.m., “all the Palestinian resistance factions were contacted,” Bakara said.

He also listed the “allies” which were notified after the attack started. While the list started with Hezbollah and Iran, as was expected, Bakara specifically mentioned the Turkish government.

“The Turks were also notified,” Bakara stated matter of factly, “and a meeting was held with them three hours later, at 9:00 am.”

Hamas then “updated anyone who contacted” the organization, including Russia.

“Even the Russians sent a message and enquired,” said Baraka, “and they were updated about the situation and about the goals of the war.”

The Republic of Turkey, which serves as the home for several Hamas members, and has regularly hosted senior Hamas leaders, appeared to be moving closer to Israel over the last two years.

Baraka’s statements cast doubt on the sincerity of those steps. Some analysts have warned for several years that Turkey has no strategic interests in common with Israel and that its strategy and rhetoric have been moving closer to alignment with Russia and Iran.

Baraka also said that the refusal by Hamas to participate in recent fighting alongside Palestinian Islamic Jihad was part of the subterfuge necessary to ensure the surprise attack would be successful.

“In the past couple years,” Baraka explained, “Hamas has adopted a ‘rational’ approach. It did not go into any war, and it did not join the Islamic Jihad in its recent battle.”

The interviewer then clarified, “But all this was part of Hamas’ strategy in preparing for this attack?”

“Of course,” Bakara answered. “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 had abandoned the resistance altogether.”

That was all a misdirection, Bakara clarified.

“All the while, under the table,” he said, “Hamas was preparing for this big attack.”

Bakara implied that those two years were not only sufficient for the planning and preparation but also for obtaining better weapons, especially rockets.

“The rockets of the resistance cover all Palestine,” Bakara said, using the popular term for the terror organizations.

“Where would he take them?” Bakara asked. “To Tel Aviv?” he said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and any possible attempt to move civilians out of harm’s way.

“We bombed Tel Aviv on the very first day of the attack,” Bakara stated.

“Does he want to take them to the Galilee?” he asked during the interview on Sunday. “The northern front – with Lebanon – has opened today.”

“The Galilee is no longer safe for the Zionist enemy,” Bakara stated. “We can bomb the Galilee from inside Occupied Palestine.”

The interviewer also asked Bakara about Hamas prisoners, as the terror group has already stated it plans to use the captives being held hostage in Gaza as a bargaining tool for the release of Hamas prisoners.

“There are also Palestinian prisoners outside of Israel, in European countries,” the interviewer stated.

“There are also prisoners in the U.S.,” said Bakara. “Of course, we want them. Of course.”

“There are Hamas members sentenced for life in the U.S. We want them too. Of course,” Baraka stated. “We demand that the U.S. free our sons from prisons.”

Baraka also indicated that the policy of U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration directly affected Hamas’ calculations in planning the operation.

“The U.S. conducts prisoner swaps,” Baraka affirmed. “Only recently it did one with Iran. Why wouldn’t it conduct a prisoner swap with us?”

Baraka even accused the United States of participating in the war, falsely equating its support of Israel with waging war against the Palestinian people.

“After all, it is participating in this war,” he claimed. “Biden, the highest authority in the U.S., declared that he stands with Israel against Hamas and the Palestinian people.”

Echoing the words of other Hamas leaders, Baraka said the U.S. “must pay the price, a reference to U.S. support for Israel.