Documents revealing Hamas' plans for Gaza civilians to join Oct. 7 massacre uncovered by IDF: report
Amid its ongoing military operation in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces recovered documents they say detail Hamas' plans for carrying out its Oct. 7 terror attack against civilians in southern Israel in which Gazan civilians reportedly played a part.
The documents were published for the first time Friday in a joint article by the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom and the German newspaper Bild detailing Hamas' purported long-term plans to conquer communities in Israel along the border with Gaza.
Hamas, recognized as a terror group by the U.S. government, has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and killed over 1,200 people in its Oct. 7 attack, sparking Israel's military offensive in Gaza. The Hamas-run health ministry says over 37,000 people have been killed since the war began. Those figures don't differentiate between combatants and civilians.
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According to the report, the document instructed Hamas terrorists to abduct a large number of soldiers within the first few moments of fighting and bring them to the Gaza Strip.
Izz ad-Din al-Haddad, known as "Abu Saheeb," is a senior Hamas official who encouraged members of the terror group to create live footage of the assault. The day before the attack, the senior Hamas official held a secret meeting with his commanders and handed them a document containing battle orders.
"Ensure that there is a live broadcast of the assault and takeover of the outposts and kibbutzim. The brigade's information (department) has permission to upload the footage (to the internet)," the document stated. "You may take flags of Arab and Islamic countries with you to hoist them atop the outposts and kibbutzim."
The document does not include instructions to kidnap and murder civilians, and Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who organized the Oct. 7 attack, has claimed that the atrocities of that day were because "People got carried away, and it shouldn't have happened."
Israel Hayom asserted in its reporting, however, that additional documents recovered during Israel's military operation in Gaza show "the lengths to which [Oct. 7] was an engineered, planned, and precise operation that is very unlikely to have 'gotten out of control.'"
The first wave of the attack, conducted by Nukhba forces, Hamas' elite terror unit, entered the kibbutz Kfar Aza with what the outlet described as "chilling efficiency." The Nukhba forces appeared to already know the location of the private home and armory of the kibbutz's security coordinator.
Members of the Mizrahi family recalled how the terrorists took over their home, which did not appear to have been a coincidence, as Israel Hayom reported. The family's home faced the kibbutz's perimeter fence, which allowed the terror unit to easily shoot at IDF forces attempting to retake the kibbutz.
After the first wave, the outlet reported that Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas' military wing, called for people in Gaza to grab a weapon and join the assault against Israel in a message broadcast in Gaza's mosques.
The outlet notes that similar instructions were given through Hamas' media outlets in the Gaza Strip and passed by word of mouth. The "incitement calls" were carefully planned in advance and were an attempt to "flood the Gaza border communities with as many vengeful and hate-filled Gaza residents as possible, who would enter Israel under the cover of the breaches provided by the first wave of the Nukhba force," according to Israel Hayom.
A third wave of individuals who joined the attack appears to have been civilians who took advantage of the opportunity, as Israel Hayom reported. The Israeli intelligence community labeled the individuals who participated in this third wave as "looters" or "mob."
"There are quite a few people who say in interrogations, 'We heard Mohammed Deif in the mosque, we took a knife, and our goal was to slaughter Jews,'" a police source told the outlet.
Multiple former hostages taken by the terror group on Oct. 7 have told the media that during their time in captivity, they were held in civilian homes in Gaza or hospitals.
Another document uncovered by the IDF described Hamas' goal of taking control of 221 settlements in southern Israel and expelling the "settlers" from these areas. The document stated that Hamas' leadership expected Israel to respond to the terrorist attack with force, "not only with strikes but also with an atomic bomb," noting that they were ready for this action.
The new documents' revelation comes as written orders reported on by The Wall Street Journal last October suggest terrorists were directed to maximize human losses and take hostages. Additionally, elementary schools and youth centers were among the primary targets.
One set of orders targeted the farming community of Alumim and instructed militants to "achieve the highest level of human losses." In the farming community of Sa'ad, terrorists were ordered to "take control of the kibbutz, kill as many individuals as possible, and capture hostages." For communities like Kfar Aza and Nahal Oz, details were provided about points of entry and modes of transportation for the attackers.
Hamas also reportedly conducted dress rehearsals of its attack, according to a propaganda video posted to social media on Sept. 12, according to The Hill. The video showed militants using explosives to get through a replica border gate and going building to building in a reconstruction of an Israeli town.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
