Israeli intelligence believes that Hamas will launch a large-scale terror attack to force Israel to withdraw from hostage deal, ceasefire negotiations.
By World Israel News Staff
The Hamas terror group is planning to carry out a large-scale terror attack in the coming weeks, in order to force Israel to pull out of ongoing negotiations towards a ceasefire and hostage deal.
According to Hebrew-language media reports, Hamas does not actually want a pause in the hostilities, but will take steps to avoid being seen as the party preventing a ceasefire from moving forward.
Therefore, the group will launch a mass casualty event targeting Israeli civilians and or soldiers, the scale of which will cause Israel to withdraw from the talks.
The attack, which Israeli intelligence believes will likely take place within the next month, could be another October 7th-style breach, which would see Hamas terrorists stream across the Gaza border into southern Israel.
Alternatively, Hamas terrorists could attack Israeli soldiers in Gaza. Another potential target would be Israeli civilians and security personnel in Judea and Samaria.
For years, Hamas has been building its presence in Palestinian Authority-administered territory. Polls have found that the majority of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria approve of the October 7th terror onslaught and would prefer to be governed by Hamas than the PA.
Last week, Hamas announced that it had dropped its demand for Israel to commit to a permanent end of the war as part of a ceasefire agreement – a non-starter that brought negotiations to a grinding halt for weeks.
Israeli officials have recently expressed “cautious optimism” regarding the prospect of a deal, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly telling hostage families that an agreement was “closer than ever before.”
However, other lawmakers such as Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich have poured cold water on the prospect of a ceasefire.
Smotrich noted that the terror group is under immense pressure and “now is not the time to take our foot off the gas.”