Israeli defense minister Israel Katz accused the leadership of the Palestinian radical Hamas movement of direct ties with Iran, which, according to him, has allocated half a billion dollars to the radicals.

“During my visit today to the IDF [i.e. the Israel Defense Forces] intelligence unit, I revealed a classified document found in senior Hamas tunnels in Gaza. It proves direct ties between Iran and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif — and Iran’s support for Hamas’s plan to destroy Israel and for the October 7 [2023] massacre,” Katz wrote on X. “In the document, Hamas demands $500 million from the IRGC’s [i.e. the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite unit of the Iranian armed forces)] Quds Force to fund Israel’s destruction.”

According to the Israeli defense minister, “The conclusion is clear: Iran is the head of the snake.’”

Katz added that “Israel will do whatever it takes to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and will continue striking its terror proxies until the Iranian axis of evil is dismantled.”