Iran trained Hamas militants for years - IDF spox

Militants from the terrorist organization Hamas have been trained for years with the involvement of specialists from Iran.

Masha Michelson, a spokeswoman for the Israel Defense Forces, stated this in an exclusive comment to Ukrinform.

"We are aware that Iran has been involved in Gaza for several years already. Tehran primarily shares its knowledge with them (Hamas militants - ed.) and trains them a lot. They also send them a lot of money," the spokeswoman said in response to Ukrinform's question of external forces that could have been involved in the planning and execution of the October 7 attack.

At the same time, according to the spokesperson, at the moment there is no confirmed data that the massive attack last Saturday took place "on Iran’s order ". The official with Israel’s Defense Forces added that she had "no specific information" about Russia's role in the latest escalation.

As reported, on the morning of October 7, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel. Militants invaded the country, simultaneously launching a massive rocket attack.

Israel has officially declared a state of war. The death toll from Hamas attacks exceeded 900. Among those killed are two citizens of Ukraine.

The EU, as well as the U.S., Ukraine, and a number of other countries have condemned the attacks on Israel.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russia is interested in igniting a war in the Middle East, so that a new source of pain and suffering will weaken international unity, add divisions and contradictions, and thereby help Russia destroy freedom in Europe.

"We see how Russian propagandists are rejoicing. We see how Moscow's Iranian friends are openly supporting those who attacked Israel. And all this is a much greater threat than the world realizes now. The world wars of the past broke out precisely from local aggressions," Zelensky emphasized in his video address on October 9.