A Memo in a Bunker, Intercepted Communications and Hamas’s Oct. 7 Plans

The selection summarizes the discovery and content of a Hamas directive—a memo and intercepted communications—that offer a granular look at the planning and execution of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Discovery and Authenticity of the Memo

Document Found: A six-page, handwritten memo in Arabic, dated August 24, 2022, and believed by Israeli intelligence to be a directive from Yahya Sinwar, the powerful leader of Hamas in Gaza.

Location: The memo was found as an image on an offline computer in an underground complex used by Muhammed Sinwar (Yahya’s brother) after the Israeli military assassinated Muhammed in May 2025.

Authentication: An Israeli document expert confirmed the handwriting matched other samples from Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024.

Directives for Attack and Violence

The memo and subsequent intercepted communications from Oct. 7 reveal explicit instructions to target both military and civilian populations, contradicting Hamas’s public claims:

Targeting Civilians: The memo called for fighters to target soldiers and civilian communities and outlined plans for operations targeting civilians from the outset.

Arson and Destruction: It ordered fighters to enter residential neighborhoods and set them on fire using fuel, stating, “Two or three operations, in which an entire neighborhood, kibbutz, or something similar will be burned, must be prepared.”

Extreme Violence: Instructions included:

“Stomp on the heads of soldiers.”

“Slaughtering some of them with knives.”

Bulldozing the border fence to create openings for multiple waves of attackers.

Real-Time Commands and Propaganda Goal

Intercepted communications on the day of the attack, collected by the Israeli military’s Unit 8200, echoed the memo’s brutality and emphasized the need for broadcast:

Orders on Oct. 7: Commanders told subordinates to “Start setting homes on fire,” to make sure the “whole kibbutz to be in flames,” and to “Kill everyone on the road.”

Hostages: Fighters were urged to “Take a lot of hostages.”

Filming/Propaganda: The memo and commanders stressed the necessity of filming and broadcasting the violent acts to evoke fear in Israelis and mobilize Palestinians in the West Bank and Arabs in Israel to “join the revolution.” One commander instructed: “Document the scenes of horror, now, and broadcast them… Slaughter them. End the children of Israel.”

Analysis and Legal Ramifications

Significance: Israeli officials say the documents prove the Hamas leadership “planned and carried out an attack that featured acts of ‘extraordinary brutality,’” intended to cause turmoil in Israel.

War Crimes: In May 2024, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor accused Yahya Sinwar and two other senior Hamas officials of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including “extermination” and “murder,” for the systematic attack against the civilian population of Israel.

Gemini can make mistakes, including about people, so double-check it. Your privacy & Gemini Opens in a new window