U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested that one of the motivations behind the recent attack by Hamas on Israel could be an attempt to thwart potential efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

"So it wouldn’t be a surprise that part of the motivation may have been to disrupt efforts to bring Saudi Arabia and Israel together, along with other countries that may be interested in normalizing relations with Israel. So that’s certainly a factor. And I think it speaks to the fact that if we could achieve normalization, which is incredibly difficult – there are a lot of hard issues to work through – but if we could achieve it, it would bring even greater – it would bring greater stability to the region.  It would move the region away from decades of turmoil, decades of conflict,” he said in in anterview with CNN.

Hamas claimed that the attack was a response to an escalation of Israeli actions against Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and those held in Israeli prisons.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh cited concerns about threats to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, the ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza, and Israel's increasing normalization of relations with countries in the region as contributing factors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously expressed optimism about the possibility of achieving peace with Saudi Arabia, believing it could have a transformative impact on the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has consistently emphasized the importance of Palestinian statehood as a condition for recognizing Israel, a stance that has faced resistance from many members of Netanyahu's nationalist religious coalition.