Hamas internal documents: Attack plan included cancellation clause

Hamas leadership considered aborting the October 7, 2023 assault on Israel if the state honored prior agreements, according to meeting records released by Al Jazeera. The investigation, broadcast on Friday by the program The Hidden is Greater, details a clause in the attack plan that allowed for cancellation under specific conditions. The records originate from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

A meeting held on February 11, 2023, discussed the operation, which was codenamed Project Fahd. The document stated the plan would be abandoned if Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in prisons ceased. Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza at the time, and Mohammed Deif, the head of its armed wing, reportedly attended the session. Both men were killed by Israeli forces in 2024.

The document attributed the decision to proceed with the operation to Israeli violations. It noted that brutality at Al-Aqsa had reached unacceptable levels and that the treatment of prisoners mirrored that intensity. On the political front, the record claimed there were no signs of progress and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of backing away from everything previously agreed. The operational objective was to defeat the enemy’s Gaza Division, the unit responsible for military operations along the border, and to capture as many Israeli soldiers as possible.

Middle East Eye stated it could not independently verify the contents of the document. The Hamas-led assault killed approximately 1,200 Israelis and took 251 people captive. Israel responded with a war that killed at least 73,000 Palestinians over two years. A US-brokered ceasefire in 2025 aimed to end the conflict and facilitate Israeli withdrawal. However, Israel has continued near-daily attacks and demolitions, expanding its occupation and forcing the population into less than half of Gaza. At least 1,500 people have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, while sweeping restrictions on aid deliveries remain in place.

The investigation also released previously unseen footage of Mohammed Deif. The video shows him attending a meeting in a tunnel with military leadership and visiting a rocket-manufacturing facility. Before the October 7 attack, no publicly available images of Deif were known. He led the al-Qassam Brigades from 2002 until his death in an Israeli air strike in July 2024. During his tenure, the group transformed from a guerrilla force into a quasi-military organization with an estimated 30,000 fighters.