Overview

• Israel’s foreign ministry and media published materials Sunday that include a six‑page memo attributed to Yahya Sinwar alongside communications captured during the assault.
• The handwritten document, dated August 2022 and recovered in an underground hideout linked to Muhammed Sinwar, “appears to be a directive” for the attack, the IDF told the New York Times.
• The memo outlines instructions to target soldiers and civilian communities, set neighborhoods or kibbutzim on fire using fuel from tankers, and film the violence to sow fear and destabilize Israel.
• Intercepts from Oct. 7 capture commanders ordering fighters to burn homes, kill people encountered on the roads, take hostages, and document the scenes for broadcast.
• A confidential assessment by the Gazit Institute concluded Hamas leadership planned acts of “extraordinary brutality,” a finding Israeli sources say contradicts Hamas’s portrayal of the operation as solely military.