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A year before Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a document detailing plans to carry out the attack circulated among Israeli officials, according to the New York Times.
While the roughly 40-page document reviewed by the Times did not give a specific date of attack, it reportedly outlined methods of the attack aimed at overwhelming Israeli defenses around the Gaza Strip, as well as plans to storm key military bases and cities. Israeli authorities codenamed the document the “Jericho Wall,” which officials dismissed as too complex for Hamas to implement, the Times reported.
The plans outlined in the blueprint called for an attack of missiles and drones that would disable security cameras and automated machine guns along the border, as well as armed men entering Israel on paragliders, motorcycles and on foot, the report said . This series of attacks was carried out in Israel on October 7th and resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 200 hostages.
According to the Times, a senior Israeli intelligence analyst warned three months before the attack that Hamas had conducted a training exercise similar to the one described in the plan. However, according to emails viewed by the publication, their concerns were dismissed by a colonel in the Gaza Division.
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“I strongly disagree that the scenario is imaginary,” the analyst wrote in an email. “It is a plan to start a war,” she added. “It’s not just an attack on a village.”
Officials admitted privately, according to the Times, that Israel could have blunted or even prevented Hamas’ deadly attack if the military had taken those warnings seriously and taken steps to fortify the south.