By World Israel News Staff

Hamas gathered forces and drew up plans for a ground invasion of Israeli communities during the ceasefire, according to a report from Channel 12 News.

Israel’s Security Cabinet recently convened in an emergency meeting to discuss indications that Hamas is planning another October 7th-style onslaught, which would see terrorists infiltrate into Israel.

The report did not detail what intelligence Israeli had obtained but stressed that the observations were significant enough to cause concern among the security establishment.

Defense Minister Israel Katz recently confirmed to a group representing residents of Gaza-adjacent communities that Hamas is “constantly preparing” to carry out an invasion.

Katz stressed that the IDF “must strike them and completely finish the job through both offense and defense” in order to prevent another incursion.

According to Arab sources, Hamas has spent the last two months regrouping, including expanding its tunnel network, recruiting new operatives to replace slain terrorists, and consolidating its weapons caches.

Hamas has approximately 25,000 gunmen with some degree of training, Channel 12 estimated.

The IDF has also seen an increase in attempted attacks on its troops in Gaza by Hamas members, suggesting that they may be gearing up for another October 7th-style attack.

In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas denied that it is planning an attack on southern Israel and that it has been increasingly targeting IDF soldiers in Gaza.

Israel’s “claims that the resistance had made preparations to attack its troops are baseless and false pretexts to justify its return to the war and escalation of its bloody aggression,” Hamas claimed.

“When Hamas only offers [one] soldier Edan Alexander in exchange for a 50-day ceasefire, it is clear that it has very good feelings of stability and that Israel is not threatening it,” Dr. Harel Horev, a researcher at Tel Aviv University, told Channel 12.

“We must break and undermine this, even if we want a hostage deal,” he added.