Hamas used Gaza border protests to map October 7 invasion routes

Intelligence officials say those locations were later used simultaneously on October 7, when more than 6,000 Hamas Nukhba fighters and armed Gazans stormed into southern Israel.

By Bianca Jones, JFeed

Israeli intelligence officials now say that the violent protests and disturbances along the Gaza border fence in the months before the October 7 attack were not spontaneous demonstrations, but part of a calculated Hamas deception campaign designed to prepare the ground for the assault.

According to the newly revealed intelligence findings, Hamas terrorists used the protests to test Israeli military response times and identify weak points along the border barrier.

Under the guise of civilian demonstrators, balloon launchers, and rioters, terrorists allegedly gathered tactical intelligence and physically marked breach locations that would later be used during the invasion.

The report, published Sunday by Israeli outlet Srugim, states that Hamas preselected 114 breach points along the Gaza security fence ahead of the attack.

Intelligence officials say those locations were later used simultaneously on October 7, when more than 6,000 Hamas Nukhba fighters and armed Gazans stormed into southern Israel.

The breaches reportedly ranged from narrow openings intended for individual gunmen to wide gaps large enough for pickup trucks and motorcycles to pass through, effectively turning sections of the border into what officials described as a “terror highway” into Israeli territory.

The revelations are said to be backed by an internal document attributed to slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

According to the intelligence assessment, the document shows Hamas leadership believed Israel failed to recognize the true purpose of the border demonstrations and underestimated the broader operational plan being prepared behind them.

Israeli intelligence sources quoted in the report said Hamas concluded that Israeli security officials “did not take the staged protests seriously” and failed to detect that the demonstrations were being used to map and rehearse the mass infiltration carried out on October 7.