November 30, 2023 War between Israel and Hamas

Israeli officials obtained a document describing Hamas’ battle plan for the October 7 terrorist attack more than a year before the militant group carried out the attack, the New York Times reported. mentioned Thursday, citing documents, emails and interviews.

The roughly 40-page document did not specify a date for the attack, but it outlined “point by point” the type of deadly incursion carried out by Hamas into Israeli territory in October, according to The Times, which reviewed the translated document.

Israeli military and intelligence officials rejected the plan, saying it would be very difficult for Hamas to implement it, according to the Times.

The document, dubbed the “Jericho Wall” by Israeli authorities, details an attack that would overwhelm fortifications around the Gaza Strip, seize control of Israeli cities and target key military bases. The Times said that Hamas followed this carefully on October 7.

On that day, Hamas fighters launched cross-border attacks from Gaza in a coordinated assault, taking more than 200 hostage and killing some 1,200 people – the largest attack of its kind on Israel since the state’s founding in 1948.

The attack was widely viewed as a major Israeli intelligence failure, with a number of senior defense and security officials coming forward in October to take some responsibility for the mistakes that led to the attacks.

Later that month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received sharp public criticism after he accused security chiefs in a later-deleted social media post of failing to warn him of the impending attack.

“On the contrary, all defense officials assessed…that Hamas had been deterred,” Netanyahu wrote at the time.

According to the Times, the “Jericho Wall” document was widely circulated among Israeli military and intelligence leaders, but it was not clear whether Netanyahu or other senior political leaders had seen the document.