Washington Post revelations about Hamas’ military capabilities and plans

More details about her action Hamas came to light as the Washington Post presented a battle manual and documents found after the group’s attack two weeks ago on Israel.

As reported by the American newspaper, the manual, which dates back to 2022 and was found on the lifeless body of a Hamas fighter, it includes a list of instructions on how specific weapons work, identifies weaknesses in Israeli military equipment, and offers advice on how to kill someone with a knife.

In the document that according to Washington Post appears to have been created by some other Hamas armed groups rather than the organization’s elite military arm, the Izzedine Al Qassam Brigades, included are instructions for the use of anti-tank guns, engineers, snipers, infantry forces, tunnel specialists, as well as what the booklet describes as “shock troops”.

“This is a secret military document,” the front page reads. “It must be kept in a secure location. It is forbidden to move unless there are orders,’ is still noted.

The documents appear genuine

On the back cover of the document is a picture of the Palestinian sheikh, Abdullah Azzam, who is believed to be Osama bin Laden’s mentor. “If this is a source of their inspiration, their symbol, I understand something more about their behavior on October 7”said Michael Milstein, former head of the Palestine division at Israel’s military intelligence agency.

Milstein at the request of the Washington Post reviewed the document. Experts including Milstein agree that the manual appears to be genuine and matches a series of other documents collected by the Israeli army and rescuers who arrived at the sites of the attacks.

Israel’s prime minister’s office has authenticated 17 pages of those documents on behalf of the American newspaper. Some of the documents, including the combat manual, have not been verified because that would reveal who first identified them and gave them to the Washington Post.

Other Hamas documents include maps and detailed plans for attacks including kishbuts around the Gaza Stripwhile the intention to kill and kidnap citizens is also mentioned.

Instructions for using an F-7 anti-tank missile launcher

The document obtained by the Washington Post included guidance on weapon operation which are known to have moved and also has detailed descriptions of the weaknesses of Israel’s tanks and armor. For example, uNorth Korea’s F-7 anti-tank missile is being instructed to use and whom Pyongyang has denied supplying Hamas.

The military arm of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades is estimated to have built up a force of about 15,000-40,000 fighters ready to operate1,200 of whom reportedly participated in the October 7 attacks.

In the early years when tunnels were opened to Egypt, Hamas could easily bring explosives and rockets into Gaza, said Mkaimar Abusada, an analyst at Gaza’s Al-Zar University. However, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has taken stricter measures to curb smuggling routes.

“I honestly don’t know how they maintained the ability to build such a military capability”Abusada also said and underlined the security perimeter that exists around Gaza.

Fighters from the al-Qassam brigade’s special forces, the “Nukhba”, are known to have trained in Iran and returned to Gaza, he added.

The militants used parachutes, motorbikes and trucks to cross the wall from Gaza into Israel and, according to the American newspaper, attacked Israeli communities according to the instructions in the manual.

“We saw that they operate like a professional army”said Major G., commander of Israel’s Arms Research Institute on Friday, as he presented weapons seized from Hamas.

“They worked very specifically, very organized. One vehicle was the IED, one vehicle was the RPG and one vehicle was the command team.”he added.

Guidelines for the best places to stab someone

Instructions to “striking troops” according to the combat manual obtained by the Washington Post also included instructions on the best places to stab someone. “The neck in the area around the collarbone”, “the spine” and “the armpit” are included in the list.

Aymen al-Tamimi, an expert at the Middle East Forum who has extensively studied documents recovered from conflict zones in Iraq and Syria, also agreed that the document appeared to be genuine. “It would not be surprising for documents like this to be in the possession of militants,” he said.

Israel’s military claims hundreds of documents have been obtained from the Intelligence Directorate and the Yahalom army engineering unit, including Hamas fighters’ cellphones, communications equipment, cameras and security intelligence reports.

Many of the documents appeared on the Telegram channel called “South First Responders,” which collects evidence gathered after the attacks on those cleaning up the areas.

The group declined to answer questions about the methods it used to gather the documents and material, citing the potential risk of its sources.

Those who worked to collect the bodies of the hundreds of Palestinian fighters killed in the attack said they were first checked by pyrotechnicians who wanted to make sure there were no explosives on them.

“They came with everything, fully equipped, with documents, maps and instructions”said Yossi Lando, a rescuer on the front lines of the Zaka medical organization, who worked to remove the bodies.

Maps and details for kibbutzim

The 14-page document, which was released by South First Responders and authenticated by Israeli authorities, outlined plans to attack Mefaslim, a small kibbutz of 1,000 residents that escaped the attack almost unscathed. The kibbutz’s security force managed to fend off a group of about 30 militants who were armed with hand grenades and AK-47s.

The document contained details of the kibbutz’s security force, the number of minutes it took to travel between several points within the community, and the goal “to take soldiers and civilians as hostages and negotiate for their release.”

According to four more pages retrieved by the Washington Post, the fighters at the front gate of the kibbutz aimed to disrupt security forces, while the Hamas explosives group would blow a hole in the back gate.

“The team keeps the kibbutz occupied until the rest of the forces arrive”the plan document said, but according to those who fought in the kibbutz the reinforcements never arrived.

“They knew where the gates were, they knew where the generators were and they cut the power.”, said Yarden Reskin, an architect and volunteer with the kibbutz’s security team. Looking at the plans of the attack and the number of dead in the neighboring communities, he stated that: “We feel very lucky. We did our part, we did it well and we had a lot of luck.”