NYT report reveals Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah level of coordination

A report by the New York Times revealed the level of coordination between Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah in the lead-up to the Palestinian surprise assault against Israel on 7 October.

According to sources close to Iranian officials, the newspaper reported on Friday that Iran and Hezbollah have been taking steps in the past year to increase coordination between Iranian-backed groups in the region.

Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's chief, reportedly held an online meeting in March with those groups and told them to be ready for a large-scale confrontation with Israel. NYT did not specify if Hamas representatives were part of the meeting.

Nasrallah allegedly said in the meeting that the upcoming confrontation would be on a "scale that would mark a turning point in the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict".

However, NYT said it was not clear if he was referring to the attack by Hamas last week.

In an April discussion involving members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, one speaker said Iran directed armed groups under its influence to "showcase a military manoeuvre to make the Zionist regime understand it is surrounded from every side".

According to the report, some believe Iran may have had some involvement in the Hamas attack but it was "not deep".

Iran has officially denied being involved saying it was all done by Palestinian groups. The United States and Israel say initial intelligence assessments show Iran was not involved.