Hamas reportedly included a provision to cancel its planned 7 October 2023 attack if Israel complied with earlier understandings, according to an Al Jazeera investigation broadcast on Friday. The programme, The Hidden is Greater, presented records of meetings held by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the group’s armed wing, during the months preceding the assault.
One record concerned a meeting on 11 February 2023 about an operation called “Project Fahd”. It reportedly stipulated that the operation could be abandoned if Israeli attacks at Al-Aqsa Mosque and in prisons ended. Yahya Sinwar, then Hamas’ leader in Gaza, and Mohammed Deif, who commanded its armed wing, were said to have attended. Israeli forces killed both men in 2024.
The document linked the decision to proceed with the operation to what it characterised as Israeli violations, citing conduct at Al-Aqsa and the treatment of prisoners. It also described a lack of political progress and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of reversing previous agreements. Middle East Eye said it could not independently establish the authenticity of the document’s contents.
According to the records, the operation sought to defeat Israel’s Gaza Division, which oversees Israeli military operations along the Gaza border. Taking as many Israeli soldiers captive as possible was another stated goal. The Hamas-led assault on southern Israel killed around 1,200 Israelis, while another 251 people were taken captive.
Israel subsequently launched a war in Gaza that killed at least 73,000 Palestinians over two years, according to the source report. A ceasefire brokered by the United States in 2025 was intended to end the war, reduce restrictions imposed under Israel’s siege and enable Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza.
Middle East Eye reported that Israel continued to breach the ceasefire through almost daily attacks, home demolitions and an expansion of the territory it occupied, leaving the population confined to less than half of Gaza. At least 1,500 people have been killed since the agreement took effect. The report also said extensive Israeli restrictions on aid continued, limiting access to food, medicines and shelter supplies.
The investigation also presented previously unseen footage, recordings and documents about Deif’s early life and secretive military leadership. Images showed him meeting commanders in a tunnel, several of whom have since been killed, as well as visiting a rocket production facility and military operations rooms.
Deif commanded the al-Qassam Brigades from 2002 until an Israeli air strike killed him in July 2024. During that period, the group developed from a guerrilla force into a quasi-military organisation estimated to have 30,000 fighters. Before the October attack, no publicly available images of him were known, and information about his health remained scarce following seven Israeli assassination attempts.
