TEL AVIV, October 14. /TASS/. The political leadership of Hamas was unaware of the timing of the planned attack on Israel by militants of the group's military wing, a member of the Hamas political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzouk, told the New Yorker magazine.

According to a senior Hamas official, the movement's military commanders, based in the Gaza Strip, were so determined to keep their plan to invade Israel secret that they concealed the details and timing of the offensive even from the organization's political leaders. All Hamas leaders except the military learned the news in the early hours of Saturday, October 7, according to the official.

He pointed out that the political leaders were "surprised by the date but not by the actions" of the leaders of the military wing, as they are " abide by the general policies put forth by our political bureau."

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian Hamas movement staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip as it has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria.

According to the latest official data, more than 1,900 Palestinians have been killed since the renewed outbreak of violence, while over 7,700 others have suffered wounds. In Israel, over 1,500 people have lost their lives and roughly 4,000 have been wounded in clashes, including on the West Bank of the Jordan River.