Hamas Planned Attack For Over A Year, Intended To Disrupt Israeli-Arab Normalisation: Report

Fresh evidence, including maps, notes, drawings, and weapons collected from slain militants, has uncovered Hamas' intention to launch larger-scale strikes into Israeli territory on 7 October, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Security officials from multiple countries, revealed that Hamas militants aimed to force an overwhelming Israeli response, leading to a broader conflict in the Middle East.

The evidence indicates Hamas' planned to penetrate deeper into Israel, reaching as far as the eastern border up to the West Bank, targeting larger cities following the success of the initial wave of attacks.

Notes found among slain militants contained Quranic verses and orders instructing to "kill as many people and take as many hostages as possible".

Preliminary intelligence findings suggest that some militants had instructions to continue deeper into Israel, equipped with enough food and ammunition for the operation.

Hamas meticulously planned the assault over a year, training militants with imported weaponry and deploying drones to map Israeli towns and identify the barrier system's locations.

Hamas was prepared to accept civilian casualties, viewing it as a necessary sacrifice to obstruct normalisation efforts between Israel and Arab nations and promote the greater Palestinian cause.

The assault aimed to provoke Israeli ground incursions into Gaza.

According to the report, the 7 October attack was a result of the top leaders, including Hamas' military leader Yehiya Sinwar, planting a seed of sophisticated deception in the minds of the Israeli administration.

Israel's top intelligence official, Michael Milshtein, stated that Hamas projected a message of avoiding further conflict, aligning with Israeli preferences.

This translated into Hamas refraining from engaging in major conflicts since 2021.

Despite these revelations, many important details of the plan were kept from Hamas' political leadership and its primary supporter, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Hezbollah.