PHOTOS: Hamas Attack Manual Discovered; Plan for ‘Raid,’ ‘Hostages’ Since 2022

A manual reportedly used by Palestinian Hamas terrorists has been discovered by first responders in a Toyota pickup truck used in Saturday’s attack on Israel.

Dating to October 2022, the “operational document” includes plans for a raid on Israeli towns near Gaza, including details about breaching the border fence, and about expected Israeli defenses. The plan also called for taking “prisoner soldiers, residents, and … hostages for negotiations.” The plan was circulated Thursday by “South First Responders” on Telegram.

The South First Responders group has been used to distribute images and videos from scenes of the terror attack, posted by those arriving on the scene. It is generally considered credible; much of the material is too graphic to reproduce.

The manual is printed neatly, with well-organized, color-coded charts. Aside from kidnapping, it does not specifically include plans for murder, mutilation, or other atrocities, such as were witnessed (and continue to be discovered) in Israeli communities. However, it includes plans for kidnapping civilians as well as soldiers — a violation of the international laws of armed conflict.

The fact that the manual is dated October 2022 — a full year before the attack on Saturday, Oct. 7 — suggests that Hamas has been planning the attack for a long time, likely with assistance, funding, and equipment from Iran. A senior Hamas official told Russia Today on Sunday that Hamas had been planning the attack for two years, and was surprised by its success.

The official also said that the scale of killing and hostage-taking was far greater than the group had anticipated — as will be the likely Israeli response.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech in the Knesset in which he reiterated his promise from the day before to “wipe Hamas off the face of the earth.” Israeli forces are massed on the Gaza border for a ground invasion.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.