"Hamas secret document released..."Planning for 9/11 in Tel Aviv"

[Anchor]
U.S. media reported that Hamas, a Palestinian militant faction, considered a larger attack similar to the 9/11 terrorist attacks before the Israeli attack in October last year.

There have also been reports that Israel has narrowed Iran's military and oil facilities to targets in retaliation for ballistic missile attacks.

Reporter Yoon Hyun-sook reports.

[Reporter]
Last October, a Hamas surprise attack killed 1,200 Israeli soldiers and civilians and took 250 hostages to Gaza.

It's an unprecedented mass loss of life in Israel's history.

But the scale of Hamas' initial attack was much larger, according to foreign media reports.

The Washington Post and the New York Times reported that the Israeli military obtained secret plan minutes and letters found at the Hamas command center.

Foreign media say Hamas has been planning a deadly attack similar to the "September 11 terrorist attacks" for several years and asking Iran for support.

In particular, it included a plan to use aircraft to topple a 70-story skyscraper or a large shopping mall complex in Tel Aviv, Israel's largest city.

Hamas had previously been scheduled to launch a large-scale attack in 2022, but it also said it had delayed the implementation to persuade Iran and Hezbollah to join the attack.

Iran's mission to the United Nations and Hezbollah have drawn a line on their links to Hamas terrorism, saying the reports are not true at all.

The Israeli military released the documents at the end of January when it was about to take action against Iran's ballistic missile attacks, saying it had found related documents while searching Hamas headquarters.

NBC reported that Israel, which has been grappling with how and when to retaliate against Iran, has narrowed its targets to military and oil refineries.

But it added that Israel has not made a final decision on when and how to respond.

I'm YTN's Yoon Hyunsuk.



Video editing: Han Kyung-hee
Design: Lee Na-eun