Iran claimed credit for the Hamas attack on Israel, linking it to the killing of a high-ranking Iranian official, but Hamas denied the claim, citing resistance to Israeli occupation as the primary motive.
The U.S. saw no evidence of Iran’s involvement in planning the attack, making Iran’s sudden claim both surprising and concerning.
Iran has been the primary backer of Hamas, but has not pressed other militant groups to attack Israel in a cohesive way. (Trending: Joe Biden Emailed Hunter’s Business Associates 54 Times)
“It’s natural for Hamas to deny any linkage here to avoid giving Israel more reasons to continue its military mission against the terror group,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said.
“Iran has been looking to wash blood away with blood since the killing of Soleimani, whose anniversary is near and it hopes to hype,” Taleblu said.
“It should come as no surprise that the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism would seek to use terror when responding to the loss of their chief terror mastermind.”
“Focusing on the ends, defined here as striking at the Jewish state, often matters more than the means or any intervening political motivation,” Taleblu said. “This is what makes Iran a successful patron to its proxy network.”
“It’s natural for Hamas to deny any linkage here so as to avoid giving Israel more reasons to continue its military mission against the terror group,” he added.
Iran funds and supports nearly two dozen proxy groups in the Middle East, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“It’s clear that while Iran has been the primary backer of Hamas, it did not hit the switch to tell Hamas to conduct its horrific assault on Israel on October 7th,” Joel Rubin said.
“The result is that Hamas is growing increasingly frustrated that its patron, Iran, has not pressed the other militant groups, such as Hezbollah, to attack Israel in a cohesive way,” he said.
“Iran is responding to these concerns by slowly turning on its network, but American responses to Iranian proxy attacks have been swift and effective.”
The U.S. Navy intercepted numerous attacks by Houthis, with many of their assets provided by Iran.
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