The attack by the radical Palestinian movement Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023. was aimed at disrupting the normalization of relations between the Jewish state and Saudi Arabia.
This was reported on Saturday by the newspaper The Wall Street Journal, which obtained the minutes of the meeting of Hamas leaders on the eve of the attack.
The document shows that at this meeting, the former head of the movement's politburo, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in October last year, stated that the work on “normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime is making significant progress“ and if they conclude an agreement, “most Arab and Islamic countries will follow“ their example. Such a development of events could divert the attention of the world community from the Palestinian issue, Sinwar believes.
He told the Politburo members about the need to take “urgent action“ and achieve “strategic change“ in the regional balance of power.
In February of this year, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry said that the kingdom would not establish diplomatic relations with Israel until the decision to create an independent Palestinian state was implemented.
In May, the US President's special envoy, Stephen Witkoff, said that the Saudi Arabian government, as well as Lebanon, Libya and Syria, would soon be able to normalize their relations with Israel by joining the “Abraham“ accords.