Iran has trained hundreds of Islamist fighters for combat in the weeks leading up to the attack on Israel, the Wall Street Journal cited intelligence sources as saying.

The WSJ said Wednesday that about 500 members of the militant groups Hamas as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad received specialized combat training in Iran in September, the people familiar with intelligence related to the assault.

The training was led by officers of the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guards’ extraterritorial wing, while senior Palestinian officials and Quds Force Commander Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani also attended the training.

More than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed October 7 by Hamas fighters who poured across the border from the Gaza Strip. Scores of others were kidnapped and taken back to Gaza, where they are being held hostage. Nearly 6,000 Palestinian have died in Israel's retaliatory air campaign.

Iran is not shy about its financial and logistical support for its proxy militias across the region, including Hamas. US officials said Iran has regularly trained militants in Iran and elsewhere, but Washington said it had found no indications of a mass training specifically to prepare for the attack.

“Before the war, Iran directly assisted Hamas with money, training and weapons and technological know-how,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the military’s chief spokesman, on Wednesday. “Even now, Iran is helping Hamas with intelligence.”

Earlier in the month, the Journal cited senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials as saying that the Quds Force helped plan the attack and agreed that it could go ahead at a meeting in Beirut on October 2 with leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah. An adviser to the Syrian government and a European official gave the same account of Iran’s involvement.