The Palestinian group "Hamas" was planning to attack Israel in the fall of 2022, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing documents seized by Israeli forces.
The Times has reviewed the minutes of 10 meetings between senior "Hamas" leaders.
The operation was delayed to get support from Iran and the Lebanese group "Hezbollah". They supported the idea of "Hamas" but asked for more time to prepare.
The motive behind the attack was to prevent Israel from strengthening ties with Saudi Arabia.
"Hamas" has deliberately avoided major conflicts with the Israeli authorities since 2021 in order to create a false sense of security in the situation.
"Hamas" attacked Israel in October a year later, when the most serious military conflict in the Middle East began, which continues and even expands to this day.
"The internal situation" of Israel - an apparent reference to the unrest surrounding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial plans to overhaul the judiciary - is among the reasons they are being "forced to switch to a strategic battle."
It is not clear whether the leaders of the two groups, Hassan Nasrallah and Ismail Haniya, approved these plans at the time.
Along with the war in Gaza, Israel is also at war with "Hezbollah" in Lebanon.