Newly uncovered internal communications show that Hamas’s leadership viewed Operation Guardian of the Walls as a major success, according to a new report from N12.
The report reveals that Yahya Sinwar, who was serving as Hamas’s military commander at the time, took advantage of the 2021 ceasefire to lull Israel into a false sense of security while secretly laying the groundwork for the October 7 attacks.
The documents are described in the report as outlining a “calculated strategy designed to exploit the internal weaknesses of Israeli society and bring about its collapse from within.”
Sinwar is said to have believed that the ceasefire was a clear strategic advantage, offering Hamas benefits at Israel’s expense.
“It is likely that this move, which would be acceptable to most countries in the world, would not be acceptable to the occupation [Israel] and would therefore increase their isolation and disconnection from [the world]. If the occupation decides to go in this direction, it will tear it apart from within and lead to an internal rift and civil war,” Sinwar wrote to then Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
During that period, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defense minister Benny Gantz, and IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Avi Kochavi had all publicly portrayed the operation as a resounding achievement and a decisive victory. According to the report, this perception of success within Israel helped embolden Hamas’s leaders to move forward with the October 7 assault.
Further documents indicated that even though the IDF had declared major successes in its operations targeting the Gaza tunnel network—referred to as the “metro”—Hamas maintained that the tunnel system had remained mostly intact.
“The ‘metro’ was not damaged at all, and only the network of attack tunnels was slightly damaged and will be repaired soon,” senior Hamas officials relayed to former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC Commander Esmail Qaani.
The N12 report concludes that these “vast conceptual gaps” between what Israeli officials believed and the actual situation on the ground created an environment where Hamas could rebuild and plan in secret while Israel wrongly assumed it had neutralized key threats.
{Matzav.com Israel}
