The Israel Defence Force (IDF) and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) have uncovered a treasure trove of Hamas intelligence, consisting of stacks of documents, files, and computers, including guidelines on what to do if someone is suspected of being part of the LGBTQ community and a phrasebook of Hebrew words to help terrorists communicate in Hebrew, which included phrases such as “Take off your clothes.” Among the findings were operational tables, equipment lists, classified maps, and instructions on what to do if captured, leading to the conclusion that Hamas’s military wing has transformed into a professional army right under the nose of Israeli intelligence. “The amount of intelligence accumulated so far in the hands of Shin Bet and Military Intelligence allows us to dismantle Hamas from within,” said a senior security official exposed to the heaps of documents. Over the years, the IDF and Shin Bet have pointed out that Hamas has transformed its military wing into an army.
However, as intelligence analysts delved into the gathered materials, they discovered the extent of this transformation and the level of professionalism reached by the terrorist organization. The intelligence included Excel tables showing the readiness levels of special units, companies, battalions, and brigades, including the scope of training, weapons, and ammunition. It also included documentation of orders in the various units and the review of equipment lists for each fighter, protocols of meetings, discussions, and the decision-making process at senior and junior levels. Security officials stated that the level of order and organization was a significant surprise for the intelligence community. “Hundreds and thousands of interrogations of terrorists and senior leaders would not have yielded such intimate intelligence on their methods of order and organization in such a short period,” said a military official exposed to the intelligence material. The order and organization enforced by Hamas was based on a “rulebook” that was not accessible to everyone and was maintained by the senior command, which issued directives and operations across the Gaza Strip.
For example, during the ground manoeuvre, official documents of the terrorist organization were found, including procedures and investigations of those suspected of being part of the LGBTQ community. The official documents of Hamas’s “rulebook” reveal brutal behaviour against anyone suspected of belonging to the LGBTQ community. Additionally, documentation of interrogations and testimonies about aggressive questioning focused solely on sexual preferences and orientations was found, indicating that those suspected of being part of the LGBTQ community faced a single fate – death. Documents were also recovered that held detailed plans by Hamas on how to operate worldwide in regions such as Europe, Jordan, Egypt, the US that were far from the eyes of foreign intelligence organizations and under the radar of the media. The documents revealed that Hamas developed a plan tailored to the population in each country. Another document detailed a plan to ignite unrest in the West Bank and undermine the Palestinian Authority (PA) by infiltrating its security mechanisms and encouraging internal rebellion to overthrow and take control of the PA gradually.
The IDF Intelligence Division gathered various equipment, such as weapons from Russia, North Korea, Iran, Egypt, Libya, and others, to trace not only their usage but also to learn about procurement and assistance routes. Among the items found were over 150 pickup trucks and more than 350 Chinese motorcycles smuggled through tunnels under the Philadelphi Route, which were used by over 4,000 terrorists from 75 infiltration points to attack Western Negev settlements and military outposts on October 7. Literature from the Hamas education system was also found. Among the items discovered were approximately 1,500 antisemitic books, indicating a systematic process of instilling hatred and promoting terrorism against Israel from the first day of education in the Hamas system. Items included children’s books teaching how to murder Jews by running them over or stabbing them, a book by senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar titled The End of the Jews, and other literature that places all responsibility for wars in the Middle East on Israel, advocating for the murder of all Jews.
Additionally, booklet about senior terrorists were found, as well as special documentation from Hamas summer camps funded by foreign donations and photos of babies on home sofas alongside shrapnel grenades and mortar shells. Another procedure the Military Intelligence carried out was linking Hamas’s plans to the documents and weapons found in Israeli territory after October 7 and in Palestinian territory during the ground operation. The military equipment supported the operational idea of prolonged presence in Israeli territory, which included medical equipment, weapons for amputating limbs using Kalashnikov rifles with bayonets or machetes, special forces rifles (Russian Kalashnikovs), and other rifles for the rest of the forces. Documents found on the bodies of the terrorists included Israeli work permits, as well as maps of settlements and IDF bases, marking important points such as the locations of senior officials’ offices, armouries, clinics, and more. The most prominent map was of the Tel Nof Airbase, detailing the locations of squadrons, commanders’ offices, and kibbutzim such as Nahal Oz and Be’eri.
It included the locations of dining halls where the terrorists initially planned to concentrate most of the hostages before transferring them to Gaza. One of the terrorists tore the map of Be’eri into small pieces, but an observant soldier noticed it and passed the pieces to intelligence personnel, who then reassembled it. The accuracy of the information on the bases and settlements, including the lifestyle within them, indicated Hamas’s systematic and high-level intelligence gathering. Some documents also revealed the corruption within Hamas, showing how they not only accumulated assets but also used them. United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) apartments were registered in the name of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif’s wife. Apartments of Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas head Yahya Sinwar’s brother, were found to be received from UNRWA and then rented to Palestinians, according to rental contracts in possession of Military Intelligence. Documentation of Hamas operatives working for UNRWA was also found.
“After consolidating all Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, based on what we saw in maps and documents and what was actually discovered, it is clear that Gaza was constructed as one large military base, including the use of kindergartens, schools, clinics, hospitals, and mosques,” said a source who reviewed Hamas documents. The source added, “They intended to infiltrate a large number of IDF bases, including Air Force bases.” On the bodies of terrorists with name tags, photos, and numbers, a “phrasebook” was found that allowed them to communicate in Hebrew with civilians and soldiers during the raid. It included phrases like: “Take off your clothes,” “Strip,” “Take off your pants,” “Children here and women there.” Military sources indicated that Hamas systematically integrated religious justification for their brutal acts into all their books, pamphlets, speeches, and notebooks, using Quranic verses and fatwas (religious rulings), including decisions on mutilating bodies and amputations.
Furthermore, documents and interrogations revealed that battalion commanders in the military wing received religious authorization to write fatwas under the title of sheikh to justify their actions against the Israeli population and soldiers, showing the terrorists there was no contradiction between the orders and Islam. This can explain why Hamas killed anyone in their path during the October 7 raid, including Bedouins who were labelled by Hamas as “collaborators” and Thai workers labelled as “infidels.” In the clothing of the commander of the raid on Sderot, a handwritten note was found in which he stated that according to the Quran, their souls would ascend to heaven and, in exchange for their sadistic actions against soldiers and civilians, including torture, they would be welcomed into paradise. There were also terrorists found with pocket notebooks influenced by Abdullah Azzam, one of the founders of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, who declared that killing purifies the soul. Another systematic effort revealed during the analysis of intelligence gathered from both the Palestinian and Israeli territories included the work of combat collection and documentation.
This was found to be intended not only for military intelligence gathering and operational accuracy but also to instill terror, create a psychological imprint of fear on the Israeli side, undermine public trust in the army and state institutions, and create a sense of chaos and insecurity. Techniques included smearing bloodstains using blood-soaked hands on the walls of hostages’ and victims’ homes and leaving notes and graffiti to threaten that they would “return next year.” The effort for collection and documentation was divided between routine and war times, which explains why all the Nukhba fighters entered with GoPro cameras on their heads. “Hamas wanted the atrocities and the spread of fear to remain in Israeli memory. If it’s not clear, on October 7 and for weeks afterward, Israeli citizens feared that terrorists would come to their homes because they saw the videos. The purpose of documenting the videos was to create a psychological impact. They invested a lot of learning, practice, and effort into this,” a security source explained.
It is also important to highlight that the effort for pre-emptive intelligence gathering included a systematic process of military doctrine, training, and acquisition of advanced equipment similar to elite units in the US Army and the IDF as seen in the years leading up to the war. The booklet includes activities such as ambushes, covert observations, overt operations visible to the enemy (IDF), and documentation activities during the raid into Israel. While Israel underestimated Hamas’ intentions and the quality of its military wing compared to the quality of Hezbollah fighters, Hamas organized itself as a professional army. Hamas operational documentation photos were found, capturing the activities of forces, military infrastructure, and classified assets on masts, posts, tanks, APCs, and jeeps, which the IDF has classified as “top secret.” During the training phase for the photographers, two key points were emphasized: the selection of the operational photographer – “must be precise, tactically disciplined, patient, not hasty, able to keep secrets about his role, avoid gossip, and ensure his details and missions are unknown, making it easier for him to move around without raising suspicion.”
Another condition for the operational photographer’s mission, highlighted in the booklet, was that “it is advisable to prepare in advance press cards belonging to a real or fictitious media organization, provided it is not clearly affiliated with any group considered hostile to the enemy. Stay calm and act as if you are about to undergo a long period of captivity, as this will help you maintain psychological cohesion and reduce feelings of frustration or false hope, which is one of the quickest ways to weaken your resolve.” According to the documents, the leadership of Hamas’s military wing defined the act of “photography” as a central and strategic task, as important as training for war, with the goal of influencing the enemy and generating propaganda for the Palestinian public and supporters of Hamas resistance. This included electronic warfare, computer network operations, psychological operations, military deception, and operational security. Their training involves photographing scenarios that simulate the atmosphere of battles and military operations, including sounds of gunfire and explosions, in both open areas and built-up environments.
Source: Jerusalem Post
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