Senior Hamas official says their terror attack on Israel was planned for two years and ‘less than five leaders’ knew the full details – as he claims Putin appreciates the assault because it divides America’s attention from Ukraine

A senior Hamas official said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is pleased with the conflict in Israel, which has been planned by terrorists for two years, because it distracts America from the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Senior Hamas official Ali Baraka said in an interview with an Arab news channel that before the terrorist organization’s massacre of Israelis last Saturday, fewer than five Hamas leaders knew about the attack.

Baraka said that for the past few years, Hamas has projected a “rational” image to the outside world by claiming to focus on governing in Gaza instead of planning terrorist attacks.

However, that image was part of the organization’s plan to covertly plan the massive attack on Israel that launched the region back into war.

“It (Hamas) did not go to any war. It has not joined Islamic Jihad in its recent struggle,’ Baraka said.

“But all this was part of Hamas’ strategy to prepare for this attack,” the interviewer jumped in to say.

‘Natural. We made them think that Hamas was ruling Gaza, and that it wanted to focus on the 2.5 million Palestinians (in Gaza) and abandoned the resistance all together. All along under the table Hamas was preparing for this major attack,’ Baraka readily admitted.

“We have been preparing for this attack for two years,” he said.

His comments confirm, among other things, that Hamas’s view of the Palestinian people is simply utilitarian. The terrorist organization places notorious headquarters in hospitals, near schools and in neighborhoods to ensure that any retaliatory attacks will cost as many civilian lives as possible.

As the Israeli military began its assault on Hamas this week, the IDF and Israeli government repeatedly sent messages to civilians in Gaza to get out before the attacks begin. Hamas reportedly sent messages to those same civilians telling them to stay put.

Baraka discussed the attitude toward human life taken by Hamas and Palestinian extremists when it comes to war with Israel.

“The Israelis are known to love life,” he said. ‘We, on the other hand, sacrifice ourselves. We regard our dead as martyrs.’

“The thing that any Palestinian desires most is to be tortured for the sake of Allah, to defend his country.”

He went on to repeatedly say that Russia is a country that ‘sympathizes with us’. He said that the Russians sent messages to Hamas leaders after the attacks.

‘Russia is happy that America is getting involved in Palestine. It eases the pressure on Russians in Ukraine,” he explained. “One war relieves the pressure in another war.”

Also in the interview, Baraka explained that Iran is Hamas’ primary political and financial supporter, and that the terrorist organization plans to expand and escalate the war so that Israel defends itself in the South and the North.

Rockets from Syria and Lebanon began flying towards northern Israel early this week.

On Saturday, Iran-backed Palestinian terrorists stormed Israel in a coordinated attack that has so far claimed the lives of 1,200 Israelis, some of whom were raped, burned alive and mercilessly beheaded by Hamas operatives.

Today, residents in Gaza faced increasing uncertainty after the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel and shut down. Over the weekend, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared war on Hamas, making it clear that Gaza will feel the impact of Israel’s retaliation for decades to come.

This week, Israeli airstrikes demolished entire neighborhoods and sent people scrambling to find safety. The war is only expected to escalate from here.

Netanyahu promised that his army would ensure the death of every Hamas operative.