NewsRescue
Hamas fighters who rushed into southern Israel in a big surprise onslaught this weekend had comprehensive maps of their targets and other resources to help them achieve their goals. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal examined samples of the printed documents.
The maps, operational plans, and orders for engaging the Israeli troops were allegedly seized from the bodies of dead Hamas terrorists. They show the intricacy of the raid preparations and corroborate that the plans included civilian targets, according to the publication.
One set of documents contained Hamas intelligence on the kibbutz (Jewish communal settlement) of Mefalsim. It contained overhead photographs, stated that the community’s defence group was entirely volunteer, and warned that Israeli troops may arrive within minutes.
The battle order allocated two squads of five men and one commander to storm Mefalsim and take hostages. Israeli guards fended off the militants there, but raids on other similar settlements were successful for the attackers.
Some of the documents contained images of tanks and armoured vehicles used by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) as well as advice on how to defeat them. According to the WSJ, the guidelines indicated that Hamas members lacked personal experience in such confrontations and that the organization’s leadership expected more substantial resistance than they experienced.
On Thursday, a Hamas representative stated on social media that the operation had been planned since 2021 and that the results exceeded the organization’s expectations. Since the beginning of last week’s incursion, at least 1,300 Israelis have been murdered and at least 3,000 have been injured.
