Mumbai, December 1: A year before Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel, Israeli military leaders had received a 40-page document that revealed Hamas’ plan in detail, but they ignored it as unrealistic. The document, named ‘Jericho Wall’, had been circulating among senior Israeli officials and described how Hamas would cross the border and carry out the attack, even though it did not specify a date. The attack, which happened on October 7, was the worst in the 75-year-old conflict between Israel and Palestine.

As per the report by the New York Times, Israeli military leaders had obtained detailed documents on Hamas battle plans for October 7 but did not pay any heed to them as they thought the plan was far-fetched. Hamas started by firing rockets at Israel, then used drones to disable the cameras at the border. Next, they infiltrated Southern Israel using various vehicles, as the ‘Jericho Wall’ document had predicted. The attack killed 1,200 Israelis and took over 200 hostages. Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal: More Israeli Hostages, Palestinian Prisoners Are Released Under Truce.

Israel responded by besieging Gaza’s 2.3 million people and bombing and raiding the area. Gaza health officials, trusted by the UN, say that about 11,500 Palestinians have died, about 40% of them children, and more are still under the debris. Israel-Hamas War: Gaza Truce Between Israel, Hamas Expires Without Extension Announced.

Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas and only paused its attacks on Gaza after Qatar brokered a ceasefire. The ceasefire also involved exchanging some hostages. It also let some aid reach Gaza, which had been devastated by the Israeli attacks. Israel has made clear it sees the truce as a temporary pause to secure the release of hostages and that it plans to resume fighting. "We swore... to eliminate Hamas, and nothing will stop us," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video released by his office after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 01, 2023 12:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).