Hamas reportedly planned even larger massacres and second terror front in West Bank

Despite the scope of the Hamas massacre of some 1,200 Israelis and foreign civilians on Oct. 7, the Hamas terror organization reportedly had been making plans for an even bigger attack, which included opening a second terror front in the West Bank, and potentially beyond, according to an article in the Washington Post.

The article was based on evidence collected from deceased Hamas terrorists, such as notes, maps, weaponry and equipment. Some Hamas operatives were found holding notes with chilling instructions, such as to “kill as many people and take as many hostages as possible.”

Israeli authorities also found equipment, like thermobaric grenades and gas canisters, that the Hamas terrorists brought with them from Gaza into Israel, apparently planning to inflict maximum damage and devastation in Israeli border communities.

More than 2,000 Hamas terrorists slaughtered Israeli civilians in at least 22 towns, villages and military posts, most of them located close to the Gaza Strip. However, based on the collected fragments, Israeli and allied intelligence agencies now believe that Hamas had plans to penetrate even deeper into Israeli territory, ignite violence in the West Bank and provoke a wider regional war.

For example, some Hamas terror forces reached as far as Ofakim, a town in southern Israel on the way to the city of Beersheva, which is comparatively close to the green line separating Israel from the West Bank. The invading Hamas terrorists also brought food and ammunition to last for several days with them, indicating that they expected to remain inside the Jewish state for a length of time.

A former American official, who received access to the Oct. 7 evidence, believes Hamas would have achieved a dramatic propaganda victory if its more ambitious plans had succeeded.  

“If that had occurred, it would have been a huge propaganda win – a symbolic blow not only against Israel but also against the Palestinian Authority,” the U.S. official assessed.

In 2007, the Islamic terror group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip after violently ousting its political rival, the Fatah party, from the coastal enclave. However, Hamas reportedly also has also had ambitions to seize power in the West Bank Arab communities that are currently controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Hamas has tried in recent months to undermine the PA’s influence by launching a growing number of terror attacks against Israeli targets.

In August, the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet arrested nine members of a Hamas West Bank cell that planned to kidnap an Israeli soldier to increase the tensions in the region.

"Hamas in the West Bank continues to try and destabilize the region with support and at the direction of the Hamas headquarters abroad and in Gaza," Shin Bet concluded.

Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas terrorist in the organization’s political bureau, told Lebanese TV in late October that Hamas was anticipating and preparing for a strong Israeli response to the unprecedented Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians.

“Will we have to pay a price? Yes, and we are ready to pay it,” Hamad said.

“We are called a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs,” he added while hiding himself from Israeli forces.

Another Hamas official, Basem Naim recently confirmed that Hamas expected a strong Israeli reaction but claimed the terror organization lacked alternative options.

“We knew there was going to be a violent reaction,” Naim stated. “But we didn’t choose this road while having other options. We have no options.”

While Israeli forces are currently demolishing Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, the Iranian-backed terror group can claim this achievement: Gaza has received widespread global attention on a scale that no other anti-Israel terror group – including Hezbollah – has ever achieved.