A planned second phase of Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel involved joining forces with terrorists in Judea and Samaria, The Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing Western and Middle Eastern security officials briefed on evidence obtained by Israel.
Some of the Hamas terrorists that participated in the attack carried enough food, ammunition and equipment for several days, the officials said, and had instructions to continue deeper into the Jewish state once the initial massacre succeeded, potentially with the goal of attacking larger population centers.
One group of terrorists carried maps and other surveillance information suggesting their plan was to continue on to the border with southern Judea, two senior Middle East intelligence officials and one former U.S. official familiar with the evidence told The Washington Post.
“They planned a second phase, including in major Israeli cities and military bases,” said one senior Israeli intelligence official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
According to the report, day laborers from Gaza who were permitted to enter Israel carried out reconnaissance in preparation for the terrorist onslaught. Before Oct. 7, Israel provided work permits for some 17,000 Palestinians from Gaza.
Some of the Hamas terrorists carried high-resolution maps, estimated to have been produced by drones flying as low as 150 feet, according to The Washington Post.
Hamas’s plans for the Oct. 7 attacks also included detailed instructions on “which [terror] commander should rape which [Israeli] soldiers in different places,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told The Washington Post on Sunday.
The report confirmed some of the worst atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, including one instance where terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri “cut open the belly of a pregnant woman and dragged her fetus onto the ground.”