The protocols – from a high-level meeting on October 2 the same year – are said to have been found in a tunnel, according to Israel's military.
The now deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is said to have stated that an "action beyond the ordinary" is required to get the normalization talks back on track – since they, according to him, risked marginalizing the Palestinian cause, according to the documents. An agreement would, according to Sinwar, "open the door for the majority of the Arab and Islamic countries to follow the same path".
The Islamist group's terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, triggered the war that, according to Hamas-controlled health authorities, has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians – and has created anger throughout the Arab world and stopped the progress in normalization, at least temporarily.
Hamas has not responded to a request for comments on the authenticity or content of the documents. Arab intelligence officials familiar with Hamas say, however, that they appear authentic, according to WSJ.
