A surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 flattened Israel, prompting a backlash.
The operation saw at least 1,500 Hamas fighters cross the border into Israel, killing at least 1,200 Israelis in one attack, with others still being held hostage by the militant group.
But a report in the New York Times claimed that Israel received Hamas’ plans for the attack a year ago.
Israeli officials dismissed the plan as ambitious and considered the group too complicated to implement, the report said. Other outlets, including the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, have also reported the claim.
What did Israel know about the attack?: Israeli officials obtained a document detailing Hamas’s battle plan for the October 7 terror attack a year before the militant group carried out the attack, The New York Times reported. reported Thursday, citing documents, emails and interviews.
The nearly 40-page document did not give a date for the attack, but outlined “point by point” Hamas’ deadly incursion into Israeli territory in October, according to the Times, which reviewed a translated document.
Israeli military and intelligence officials rejected the plan, judging it too difficult for Hamas to implement, according to the Times.
The document, dubbed the “Jericho Wall” by Israeli officials, describes an offensive that will overwhelm fortifications around the Gaza Strip, capture Israeli cities and target key military bases. Hamas followed suit on October 7, the Times said.
On that day, Hamas militants launched a coordinated attack across the border from Gaza in the deadliest single-day attack on Israel since its founding in 1948.
Read more about Hamas’ October 7 attack Here.
