Hamas propaganda videos have revealed how the militant group prepared for its surprise attack on Israel last Saturday for years, practicing tying hostages with cables and marching in advance just meters from the Israeli border.
Israeli intelligence, previously considered some of the best in the world, was taken completely by surprise by the Hamas incursion, which killed 1,300 people, most of them civilians.
Questions are being raised about how the state could have been blindsided by the terror group, with new videos showing at least six training sites inside the Gaza Strip, including one just 720 meters from one of Israel-Gaza’s most heavily fortified areas. the border.
It comes after Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in its history, massacring and kidnapping civilians, including infants and young children, massacring 250 people at a music festival and wiping out entire villages.
In response, Israel has vowed to eradicate the group and has killed at least 2,200 people with non-stop airstrikes in the region, home to 2.2 million people.
Hamas militants practice paragliding while aiming weapons at a training site
Hamas propaganda videos have revealed how the militant group prepared for last Saturday’s surprise attack on Israel for years.
At a training site, the terrorist group built a mock kibbutz to practice urban warfare
Videos released by Hamas show fighters training inside a makeshift kibbutz, practicing urban warfare, rocket attacks and house-to-house fighting.
The most disturbing images show fighters taking over a makeshift kibbutz and impersonating hostages, cable tying their hands and forcing them to go in ways similar to those seen last Saturday.
Hamas is believed to have taken at least 150 hostages in Gaza during its assault, including entire families, children and the elderly. The group has threatened to kill the hostages if Israel launches a ground attack against them, to which Israel responded by cutting off all electricity and aid until the hostages are returned.
The IDF has now forced Hamas back inside Gaza, but single and small groups of soldiers are still being discovered hiding in the country.
CNN identified the six training sites in Gaza and said no action had been taken against them by Israel, despite one of them being built only 18 months ago.
At one of the training sites, Hamas militants practiced skirmish attacks, another method they used on Saturday.
They drilled takeoffs and landings as they prepared for their attack, which intelligence experts have claimed was years in the making.
The IDF declined to comment on CNN’s findings until the war is over.
The most disturbing images show fighters taking control of a makeshift kibbutz and impersonating hostages
Hamas drills included firing weapons and rockets in preparation for attacks on Israel
Some of the training sites have been operating for years, apparently without Israel’s knowledge
Mock kibbutz buildings were painted with star symbols matching those on Israeli flags
At one of the training sites, Hamas militants practiced skirmish attacks, another method they used on Saturday
Israel’s government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. It has called up 360,000 army reservists and threatened an unprecedented response to Hamas’s wide-ranging incursion.
The revelations came after it was claimed that discarded raid plans found by IDF forces inspecting the bodies of Hamas militants showed that the group had meticulously planned their operation.
The ‘top secret’ document, dated October last year, includes a plan to raid Mefalsim, a Kibbutz with ‘1,000 civilians’, 20 of whom are part of an Israeli rapid response team.
The plan involved the use of ‘artillery’ and instructed a team member to ‘punch a hole’ in a fence. The plan also indicated that Hamas forces should “take captive soldiers, residents and take hostages for negotiations,” the response unit posted.
It comes as, nearly a week after Hamas militants broke through Israel’s fortified separation fence and killed more than 1,200 Israelis in a brutal rampage, Israel is preparing for a possible ground invasion of Gaza for the first time in nearly a decade.
The battle plan outlined that the attack would consist of one commander and two five-man squads.
Hamas warned that an attack on Mefalsim could cause additional Israeli forces to arrive from the Nahal Oz area ‘within three to five minutes’. The plan suggests that these forces would arrive in two to three jeeps along a specific route.
A week after the attack, Gazans are desperately fleeing the country’s north after Israeli forces gave 1.1 million people 24 hours to evacuate ahead of an imminent ground attack.
The government announced today that Gazans can safely leave between 10am and 4pm along two main roads.
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