Top Hamas commander exposes 'infighting and real plans for October 7 attack'

05 November 2023 , 12:15

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Palestinians abducting an Israeli citizen from a Kibbutz (Image: AP)

A high-ranking Hamas commander has broken ranks to criticise what happened on October 7, claiming that Israeli civilians were not originally their targets.

The military chief - who is responsible for a battalion of 400 militants and goes by the code name Abu Mohammed - claimed the initial plan targeted Israeli soldiers and there were designs to abduct some of the troops as hostages.

But at the last minute, Hamas' political leadership who are exiled outside of the territory changed the operation, telling commanders to rape, torture and slaughter Israeli civilians. More than 1,400 men, women and children were killed. Hundreds of Israelis were taken hostage and transported back behind enemy lines in Gaza.

A 26-year-old being carried away on the back of a motorbike

Speaking on the encrypted Telegram app, he told the Mail on Sunday: "I am one of the planners (of October 7) and we did not expect it to go this way. Our leadership was speaking to our young ones saying go, do whatever you like, take whatever you like…You see and witness we have killed babies. Us going there into civilian areas, taking 250 hostages, wasn’t planned. They are civilians. Our plan was to take a few [military] hostages in return for our prisoners."

He accused Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar of behaving like a street brawler, adding that the leadership who ordered the miltants to "do what they like" would not have to face Israel's barbaric vengeance because they lived outside the territory.

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Hamas had initially planned to abduct Israeli soldiers rather than civilians, the commander claims

Mohammed claims to have spoken out so he could "raise our voice to the world" to tell that Hamas's leadership was the reason for "my dear Gaza [being] under bombardment".

The military commanders remaining in Gaza have been isolated away from the exiled political leaders. They're now left needing to rely on messengers in and out of the country.

While he is left with just dates and olive oil to sustain him, the leaders live a life of luxury in Qatar and Turkey, he said. The commander said that he is not the only chief questioning the choices of their leaders. "They destroyed us", he said.

Gunmen seizing festivalgoers

On October 7, Hamas militants pummelled locations in Israel from Gaza before sending fighters across the border. The invading troops slaughtered 1,400 innocent civilians and took around 240 of them hostage.

Part of the operation saw them storm a music festival in a kibbutz in the Negev desert. Fighters soared over and fired indiscriminately into the crowd, leaving a pile of more than 270 bodies, many of them young people in their late teens, 20s and 30s.

At another kibbutz nearby, at least 40 babies and young children were slaughtered by a squad of 70 fighters. Some of the little ones were beheaded and their families mowed down. Similar scenes happened in Sderot, with some of the houses almost completely torn down during the attack.

The only Islamist attack more deadly in recent history was 9/11. Hundreds of Israelis were abducted and taken behind enemy lines in Gaza, where some were paraded through the streets.

Ryan Fahey