Documents seized in the Gaza Strip and published Sunday reveal that Hamas planned to build an army of terrorists in Lebanon before the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Research by the Amit Terrorism and Intelligence Research Institute shows that Hamas leaders were frustrated that Palestinian Islamic Jihad was receiving broader support from Hezbollah in training its forces on Israel's northern front.
The research is based on records from a meeting of Hamas' Shura Council in Gaza in August 2023. The documents show that the terrorist organization's leadership was concerned about the disparity between the size of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad forces in Lebanon. Izz al-Din al-Haddad, then commander of Hamas' Gaza Brigade, explicitly voiced concern over the situation.
Al-Haddad said Hamas' training program in Lebanon was limited and involved only 1,000 recruits, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad enjoyed Hezbollah's support and had trained more than 1,500 terrorists. "We have to deal with this issue and follow up on it before it is too late," he told participants at the meeting, "so that Hamas remains at the forefront. We want to be ready in the Lebanon arena because this is our project."
Yahya Sinwar, then Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip, also took part in the meeting. He said that at the time, about 1,000 Hamas operatives were training in Lebanon at camps run by Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps under Tehran's direction. According to Sinwar, the primary goal was to expand the force to the size of a regular army.
"They say they are prepared to bring the number to 10,000 fighters who will be trained and become an army," Sinwar said. He acknowledged, however, that political tensions between senior Hamas figure Khaled Mashaal and Hezbollah had delayed the plan. Sinwar assessed that resolving the crisis with the Lebanese organization would lead to a rapid and significant increase in the number of Hamas operatives trained on the northern front.
