In recent days, Israel has released secret documents shedding light on meetings between leaders of the Hamas terrorist group and Iranian representatives in the months leading up to the October 7 attack. According to these materials, Iran knew about Hamas’ plans in advance. However, few people know that the first contacts between Hamas and Iran were initiated by a man who began his path to the heights of Hamas while on American soil.
The New York Post writes about this.
The interaction between Hamas and Iran on the issue of attacks on Israel is not surprising, as their alliance began more than 30 years ago, strengthening the desire of both sides to destroy the Jewish state.
One of the key figures in these links is Musa Abu Marzouk, now deputy head of Hamas’s politburo. He had his first encounters with the Iranian regime as a student, studying at Louisiana Tech University, United States. Today, Marzouk lives in Qatar and is seen as a possible successor to Yahya Sinwar as head of the Hamas terrorist group or as a member of its senior leadership.
Born in Rafah in 1951, Marzouk studied in Egypt before traveling to the United States on a student visa in the 1980s. He first studied at Colorado State University and then earned a master’s degree at the Louisiana Institute of Technology. In 1990, he received a green card, married, and settled in Virginia, where he organized several activist groups disguised as charities, including the Holy Land Foundation and the Islamic Association of Palestine.
His rise to power within Hamas coincided with the intensification of struggles for influence within Palestinian factions in the 1980s. Hamas was created as the military wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in December 1987, and its charter included a call for the destruction of Israel and opposition to any peace negotiations.
Hamas, through social programs such as the Holy Land Fund, gained support among Palestinians by offering aid in exchange for loyalty. Hamas’ social programs included schools and religious centers through which young people were radicalized. The civilian population also supported Hamas by providing it with infrastructure and weapons shelters.
In 1997, the US government designated Hamas as a terrorist organization and Marzouk was deported from the country. At the time, Hamas was busy fighting not only Israel, but also the Fatah party, which represented the Palestinians under the leadership of Yasser Arafat.
An FBI document found in a 1994 undercover search in Mississippi revealed Marzouk’s first series of meetings with the Iranian government. These meetings were aimed at obtaining support in the form of funding, media and military assistance.
The document was used in a federal lawsuit against the Holy Land Foundation in 2008, where a link was demonstrated between raising funds for “charity” and transferring them to Palestinian terrorist groups.
Hamas’s first official meeting with the Iranian regime took place in 1990, when Marzouk met with representatives of the Iranian Foreign Ministry to discuss joint goals and interests. In 1991, while living in the United States, Marzouk headed the Hamas delegation to Tehran. This meeting with senior Iranian government officials and representatives of Hezbollah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Palestinian Islamic Jihad was key to establishing long-term cooperation.
In 1992, Iran had committed to providing financial support to Hamas. In the documents, Hamas noted that Iran was a key ally and possessed “significant resources.” In return, Iran counted on Hamas as a partner capable of weakening American influence in the region and helping Iran emerge from international isolation.
The 1993 Oslo Accords, signed between Israel and Yasser Arafat, paved the way toward possible peace and Palestinian self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. However, Hamas, having received support from Iran, responded with a series of terrorist attacks, leading to the Second Intifada and the seizure of power in Gaza in 2007. The next terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 coincided with negotiations on a peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Previously, “Cursor” talked about how Sinvar supplied his wives with elite accessories in the tunnels.
