The Washington Post declassified Hamas plans

The Palestinian group Hamas was planning not one, but several attacks on Israeli cities. Intelligence officers found out about this, writes The Washington Post.

The media, citing several former and current intelligence and security officials from four Western and Middle Eastern countries, claimed that Hamas’ plans included moving deeper into Israel to larger cities.

The group’s fighters intended to do this in the event of a successful attack on the south of the country on the morning of October 7. By doing so, they “wanted to cause a crisis in the region, a new wave of Palestinian resistance and a severance of Israel’s ties with Arab countries,” the publication notes.

It is alleged that a second phase was planned, including attacks on major Israeli cities and military bases.

The media notes that on October 7, militants crossed the border in about 30 places, attacked 22 settlements, and were able to go 24 km deep into Israeli territory. They had maps and intelligence to attack as far as the West Bank border, the newspaper claims. According to media reports, the group was “preparing for actions that could cause an Israeli retaliatory strike on the north of the Gaza Strip.”

Intelligence notes that the attacks took a year to plan, and that some information was provided to Hamas by workers who came into the country to work from the Gaza Strip. Also, some of the information was collected using cheap drones, as well as by studying Israeli real estate websites. At the same time, during the preparation period, a number of members of the Hamas leadership were engaged in disinformation – they publicly gave subtle signals, convincing that the group no longer wants wars.

Let us remind you that after the Hamas attack, the Israeli authorities set up a blockade of the Gaza Strip and continue bombing the enclave. According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 10,000 people have been killed in the strip since Israeli bombing began. According to WHO, 40% of the dead were children.