Israeli authorities obtained a Hamas battle plan outlining the terrorist group’s bloody Oct. 7 attack a year before it happened — but Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed what they described as a “truly imaginative” plan impossible to execute, according to reports.
The 40-page blueprint — dubbed the “Wall of Jericho” by Israeli officials — maps out key details of the invasion that led to the deadliest day in Israel’s history, but does not specify a date when such an attack would be launched, New York. The York Times reported Thursday, citing documents, emails and interviews.
Israeli officials released the 40-page document just three months before the terrorist attacks that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people in Israel and the kidnapping of 240 more.
“Surprise them through the gate. If you do, you will surely win,” the top of the document states — a quote from the Koran that Hamas has widely repeated since the attack.
The plan included rocket attacks to force Israeli soldiers into bunkers and drones to knock out security cameras — tactics used in the October 7 invasion.
The translated document also details 60 points on the border wall between Gaza and Israel where hundreds of Hamas fighters stormed for the attack.
The location and size of Israeli military forces, communications hubs and other sensitive information were also mentioned in the plan, the Times reported.
Officials would not say how they obtained the Wall of Jericho documents, but records show they were widely circulated among Israel’s military and intelligence leaders over the past year, many of whom dismissed the extensive plan as beyond Hamas’ capabilities.
Israeli officials had a detailed blueprint of Hamas’ attack plans more than a year before the terrorist group attacked. AP
At least one veteran analyst with Unit 8200, Israel’s signals intelligence agency, warned in July that the terrorist group had conducted training exercises that mirrored “the contents of the Wall of Jericho,” including shooting down Israeli planes, taking over a military training base and killing its cadets.
His concerns were dismissed by a colonel in the Gaza division, the entity tasked with controlling the border, who said it was part of a “totally imaginative” scenario, not an indication of Hamas’ ability to do so before telling analysts to “wait patiently.”
The “Walls of Jericho” document maps the sophisticated attack, including the location and size of Israeli military forces. AP
“I absolutely deny that the scenario is imaginary,” the analyst wrote in an encrypted email exchange seen by The Times.
“It was a plan designed to start a war,” he added. “It’s not just a raid on a village.”
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Analysts have compared the exercise to the 1973 war, in which Syrian and Egyptian forces overran Israeli defenses before Israel could regroup and repel the invasion – an intelligence failure long taught to Israeli security officials.
“We have already had a similar experience 50 years ago in the south in connection with a seemingly imaginary scenario, and history may repeat itself if we are not careful,” the analyst wrote in an email.
Palestinians visit their homes destroyed in Israeli bombing in Al-Zahra, on the outskirts of Gaza City. AP
Israeli officials have privately admitted that they failed to foil the bloody October 7 attack.
In September 2016, Israel’s defense minister’s office compiled a secret memo outlining Hamas’ strengthening powers, as well as its massive purchases of weapons, GPS jammers and drones.
The invasion and hostage-taking would “result in severe damage to the consciousness and morale of the Israeli people,” then-defense minister Avigdor Lieberman said in the note.
Another plan, obtained after Israel restored the Wall of Jericho, showed that Hamas had “decided to plan a new raid, unprecedented in its scope” involving a “large-scale maneuver” aimed at overrunning parts of Gaza.
The Israeli military called the plan a “compass,” signaling their doubt that Hamas was capable of such an attack.
Israel and Hamas agreed Thursday to cease fighting for another day, marking the seventh day without fighting.
More than 100 hostages have been freed as the ceasefire is scheduled to be lifted at 7am local time Friday, unless another deal can be reached.
Both sides agreed to release some of the hostages under the deal.
More than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including many women and children, have been killed in the conflict, according to data from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
