Weeks before Oct. 7, IDF said to have been warned of Hamas plan to take 250 hostages
A document put together by the IDF’s Gaza Division less than three weeks before October 7 warned that Hamas was training for a large-scale invasion of Israel during which hostages would be taken en masse, according to an Israeli television report Monday.
Chillingly, the September 19 document by Military Intelligence’s Unit 8200 — which was ignored — estimated the target number of hostages at 200-250, according to the Kan public broadcaster, citing unnamed security sources. During the actual October 7 massacre, 251 hostages were taken and 1,200 others were killed, mostly civilians.
Similar reports were subsequently published by other Hebrew media outlets.
The detailed document outlined a series of exercises by the Palestinian terror group’s elite forces who drilled raids on Israeli towns and military posts, on how to hold soldiers and civilians hostage when back inside Gaza, and in what conditions they can be killed.
Commandos in Hamas’s elite Nukhba force were instructed not to leave documents behind after they raided bases, according to the document. Terrorists were told to ensure hostages did not have telephones on them, were forbidden from informing hostages’ families of their condition, and to move them if it became apparent that Israel determined their location.
Terrorists were also required to threaten to kill hostages to deter others from escaping.
The document was brought to the attention of senior intelligence officials, at least that of the Gaza Division, unnamed security officials told Kan. The government and top military leaders have contended they were not warned about an imminent planned invasion at the time. [Continue reading…]