Hamas leaders asked Iran for $500 million in 2021 to destroy Israel within 2 years
Defense minister displays letter by Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Deif to leader of IRGC, who he says ‘accepted the request’; dozens of protesters in northern Gaza chant against Hamas
Defense Minister Israel Katz revealed an intelligence document on Sunday showing that Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Deif had sent a letter to Iran’s IRGC Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani in June 2021, seeking support for the terror group’s plans to invade Israel, which were ultimately carried out on October 7, 2023.
“I am presenting here for the first time a document that was found in the tunnels of senior Hamas officials in Gaza, which proves a direct relationship between Iran and Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Deif, as part of Iran’s support for the Hamas plan to destroy Israel,” Katz said in a video statement.
The statement was recorded during a visit to the Military Intelligence Directorate’s so-called intelligence collection and technical spoils unit — known by its Hebrew acronym, “Amshat.”
“In the document, they (the Hamas leaders) ask of the commander of the [Islamic] Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force to transfer $500 million for destroying the State of Israel,” he said.
The document shows that Hamas demanded $20 million per month from Iran over two years, “to achieve these great goals, through which we will change the face of the world.”
“We are confident that by the end of these two years, or during them, God willing, we will uproot this monstrous entity, and we will end this dark period in the history of our nation,” the letter reads.
שר הביטחון חשף התכתבויות בין איראן לסינוואר: "ביקשו 500 מיליון דולר להשמדת ישראל – וקיבלו"@ndvori pic.twitter.com/IzEQgcupdq
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) April 6, 2025
Saeed Izadi, the head of the Palestinian Division in the IRGC, “accepted the request and replied to them that Iran, despite its difficult economic situation and the plight of the Iranian population, will continue to funnel money to Hamas, because the struggle against Israel and the US is the top priority of the Iranian regime,” Katz said.
The defense minister added that “the conclusion is clear: Iran is the head of the serpent, and despite all its denials, it is also funding and advancing terror in all areas, from Gaza, through Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and now with the Houthis in Yemen, under the desire to destroy Israel.”
“Israel will do everything possible to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and will continue to hit its proxies in the region until the Iranian evil axis is crushed and defeated,” Katz said.
Dozens protest Hamas in Jabalia, as Israeli strikes continue
Meanwhile, media outlets in Gaza reported a demonstration in Jabalia in northern Gaza on Sunday, with dozens of protesters chanting “Hamas are terrorists” and “Hamas are garbage.”
Two weeks ago, there were several consecutive days of anti-Hamas and anti-war demonstrations in Gaza, followed by reports that the terror had killed some of the protesters. The demonstrations were halted for a period, although they returned last week with a protest in northern Gaza.
تجدد المظاهرات المطالبة بوقف الحرب ورحيل حركة حماس في معسكر جباليا شمال قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/fflHLK0mH0
— قناة عودة الفضائية (@AwdehTV) April 6, 2025
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Sunday that Israeli shelling since Saturday evening had killed at least four people in the Jabalia refugee camp.
The ministry’s figures cannot be verified, and they do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Israeli strikes overnight into Sunday hit a tent and a house in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing five men, five women, and five children, according to Nasser Hospital, which said it received the bodies.
A female journalist was reportedly among those killed. “My daughter is innocent. She had no involvement, she loved journalism and adored it,” said the woman’s mother, Amal Kaskeen.
“Trump wants to end the Gaza issue. He is in a hurry, and that is clear from this morning,” asserted Mohammad Abdel-Hadi, cousin of a woman killed.
The bodies of five people, including a child and three women, arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, according to an Associated Press journalist there.
The war in Gaza began October 7, 2023, when some 5,600 Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 to the enclave as hostages.
Terror groups in the Strip are still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, while 35 have been confirmed dead by the IDF.
Israel restarted intense bombing of Gaza on March 18 and then launched a new ground offensive, shattering a nearly two-month ceasefire in the war with Hamas.
According to the terms of the January 19 ceasefire deal, the sides were to launch negotiations over the second phase a few weeks into the first, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to do so, insisting that the war would not end until Hamas’s governing and military capabilities had been demolished.
Meanwhile, the terror group has rejected a series of offers to extend the first phase of the truce.
The Times of Israel Community.