Hamas was calculating a alternate stage of rush on Israel, intelligence has set up out. Judges concluded that the zealots demanded to beget a extremity in the region, a new surge of Palestinian defiance and a severance of Israel’s ties with Arab nations.
The Palestinian group Hamas intended, in the event of a successful attack on southern Israel on the morning of October 7, to advance deeper into the country to larger cities. The Washington Post writes about this, citing several former and current intelligence and security officials from four Western and Middle Eastern countries.
“ They were calculating a alternate phase, involving in major Israeli metropolises and martial bases, ” one of the sources spoke.
On the day of the attack on Israel, October 7, the militants crossed the border in about 30 places, attacked 22 settlements and were able to go 24 km into Israeli territory. Some militant groups were equipped to fight for days, with maps and intelligence to attack as far as the border of the West Bank (the part of Palestine controlled by Hamas’ rival Fatah).
still, it would be a huge propaganda palm- a emblematic blow not only to Israel, but also to the Palestinian Authority, “ If this happed.
Analysts say Hamas, with its plans for a strike of “historic proportions”, sought to provoke a “stunning response” from Israel and spark a major conflict in the region. In particular, the militants found instructions to set fire to houses, “kill as many people as possible and take hostages.” The group was specially preparing for actions that could most likely cause an Israeli retaliatory strike in the north of the Gaza Strip, the sources concluded. In their opinion, the leadership of the militants was ready to do this for the sake of a new wave of Palestinian resistance and to nullify plans to normalize relations between Israel and the Arab states.
“ They were genuinely clear about what would be to the Gaza Strip the coming day. They wanted to buy their place in history – a place in the history of jihad – at the expense of the lives of many people in the Gaza Strip,” one of the newspaper’s interlocutors said.
These assumptions are confirmed by some statements by militant leaders, the publication points out. In late October, Hamas Politburo member Ghazi Hamad said in an interview: “Will we have to pay a price? Yes, and we are ready to pay it.” “ We are called the nation of labors and we take glory in offering labors, ” he added.
