Iran was involved in the Hamas attack that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel and saw more than 200 taken hostage, a senior Israeli military officer has claimed.
Major General Michael Edelstein, a commander working with the Israel Defence Forces' (IDF) Southern Command, said that Israel has "evidence of Iranian involvement" in the October 7 attack, in which British citizens were killed.
He told reporters during a press conference on Monday that "you definitely can see evidence, we have evidence of Iranian involvement", Sky News reports.
The commander declined to elaborate on what this evidence consisted of.
"I cannot elaborate too much, but you can understand what I mean. Not just about equipment but more than this," he said.
He also declined to discuss whether evidence showed Hamas fighters had been trained abroad.
But his comments appeared to go further than previous remarks by officials about the potential for an Iranian link to the bloody massacre in southern Israeli just beyond the Gaza border.
The military officer said documents found on the bodies of militants who were killed in the attack, as well as with dozens of fighters who have been captured, include evidence of specific instructions they were given, according to Sky News.
They include an "abduction manual" and another document that was reported to contain "operation plans".
Major Edelstein also reiterated that militants had "orders" which involved chemical weapons capabilities, as mentioned by the Israeli President to Sky News on Sunday.
He added: "Orders were there on how many to kill, how to kill, how many to take as hostages. Orders were there to rape. It wasn't something that just happened... all was written and ordered."
It comes as Rishi Sunak announced that British intelligence concluded that a devastating explosion at a Gaza hospital was likely caused by a misfired missile from within Palestinian territory, rather than an Israeli strike.
On Monday the Prime Minister told the House of Commons that based on an intelligence assessment, "the British government judges that the explosion was likely caused by a missile, or part of one, that was launched from within Gaza towards Israel."
Officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza have blamed it on an Israeli airstrike and said the blast killed almost 500 people.
In Gaza heavy airstrikes continue, including in areas where Palestinians have been told to seek refuge, killing hundreds and sending new waves of wounded into already packed hospitals, according to Palestinian officials and witnesses.
A third small aid convoy from Egypt entered Gaza, where food, water and medicine is desperately needed. Israel was still barring the entry of fuel, and Gaza hospitals say they are struggling to keep generators running to power life-saving medical equipment and incubators for premature babies.
Israel is widely expected to launch a ground offensive in Gaza, which has raised fears of the war spreading beyond Gaza and Israel.
