“Captured documents reveal that Hamas meticulously planned the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel for years, initially plotting a 9/11-style bombing. Strategic delays, Iranian support, and deception were key to the devastating assault that reignited the Israel-Gaza conflict.”

On 7 October 2023, Hamas rained hell on Israel, killing over 1,200 people and taking hundreds of hostage. A renewed war has resulted from this. While the scale and brutality shocked global public opinion, documents in the hands of Israeli forces confirm that the attack had been years in planning, with at least some form of early planning dating back to early 2022. Some of these documents suggest that there was a very orchestrated strategy of exploitation of vulnerabilities in Israel’s defenses; thus, it is evident that the ambitions of Hamas at play went far beyond the events of October 7.

Early Planning and “The Big Project”

Seized records of high-level meetings suggest the plan for what was codenamed “the big project” dates as far back as January 2022. Two dimensions were embedded in the operation-plunge the military infrastructure of Israel into chaos while hitting civilian populations. In fact, the burden of planning lay on Yahya Sinwar and Muhammed Deif-the seniormost Hamas figures-at the same time ensuring that there was no early escalation with Israel to start a never-before cycle of coordination and hoard resources before launching a massive attack.

Fund efforts gained momentum at the mid-point of the year 2022. Sinwar had already sent in a funding request to Iran as early as June 2021 and is said to have retrieved $10 million, earmarked for the planning process of the attack. Sinwar would later send in an additional request for $500 million, which must be disbursed over the course of two years.

Procrastination and Strategic Realignment

Although this was last year’s intended operation, the attack was delayed. The intercepted documents reveal that Hamas wanted additional financial and military supplies from Iran and Hezbollah as it concluded its preparations for the attack. Khalil al-Hayya had his last meeting with Iran’s senior military leaders, including Mohammed Said Izadi of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in August this year for operational specifics.

But it were geopolitical imperatives that brought the planning forward to 2023. Israel’s perceived rollout of a new air defense system and improved relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia also speeded up the process. Domestic political instability precipitated by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s judicial reform that just inflamed much of Israel provided the volatile Hamas with an irresistible reason to act.

A Aborted 9/11-Type Attack

Perhaps the most shocking revelation that there was a first plan to commit a 9/11-kind attack on Tel Aviv’s Azrieli Towers. This was against massive casualty victims like those experienced on September 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center. Some of the targets included towers seen by many, a shopping mall, and a train station. However, logistical issues made Hamas opt for an alternative that was more feasible to attack.

Element of Surprise and Deception

After all this, the attack was launched on October 7th, coinciding with Simhat Torah, where military readiness would be lower due to holiday observations. The reason why the attackers chose this date is due to their vulnerability, and in fact, was debating on other dates including Yom Kippur but settled on Simhat Torah as more strategically favorable. The attack was majorly on the military bases, civilian areas, with hundreds of hostages and the tensions spread beyond the Gaza borders when Hezbollah opened a second front from Lebanon.

Iran and Hezbollah’s Involvement

Iran and Hezbollah are still up for debate. Documentary evidence proves that the preparation could not have been done without Iran but Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with leaders, denied to have planned and carried out the suicide attack in question. Therefore, US and Israeli intelli-gence also argue that the plot might not have reached Iran’s highest level concerning the actual date.

The documents published illustrated that the attack on 7th of October was planned with strategic deception for several years with repeatedly reset timelines. Here, Hamas had planned for “ambitious” schemes like a 9/11-style bombing. The complexity which is now unravelling between Israel and Gaza possibly other regional players would best be described by the complexity and calculated nature.