IDF knew of Hamas’ plan to invade, take 250 hostages weeks before October 7th

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A document has surfaced that indicates the IDF had detailed information about Hamas’ plans to invade Israel and take 200-250 hostages three weeks before October 7th, as reported by Kan 11 News.

The Gaza Division compiled the document, “Detailed End-to-End Raid Training,” which was distributed on September 19, 2023.

It described training by Hamas units that ultimately carried out atrocities on October 7th and included working with simulated outposts in the Gaza envelope and practicing raids, kidnapping, and holding hostages in Gaza.

The terrorist forces were divided into four groups and each trained using a simulated outpost.

The document “was known to the intelligence leadership, at the very least in the Gaza Division.”

Hamas even stated the goal of the invasion was to kidnap between 200 and 250 people, which came to fruition when terrorists actually took 250 captives on October 7th.

The terrorists were also trained on how to hold captives long-term, how to deal with extreme cases, and under what conditions they could be executed.

According to Kan News, “Israeli intelligence officials who monitored the exercise detailed in the document the next steps after breaching into Israel and taking over the posts, determining that the instruction is to hand over the captured soldiers to the company commanders.”

An investigation is expected to reveal why this report was not acted upon. Currently, the negligence of some senior officials and inflated confidence in a new security barrier are blamed for the fact that the document was ignored.

According to the Kan report, the security establishment was proud of a new “smart” barrier built two years before the October 7th invasion.

Despite the barrier’s having above and below-ground advanced security systems, it failed to prevent Hamas from invading the kibbutzim and carrying out their plans.