WSJ: HAMAS members had detailed maps of Israeli cities, military bases

Members of the HAMAS radical group, who infiltrated the Israeli territory on October 7, had detailed maps of cities and military bases, as well as information about "weak spots on Israeli army armored vehicles," according to The Wall Street Journal newspaper, Report informs.

The newspaper’s correspondents analyzed documents recovered from sites of Hamas attacks, as well as personal items found on bodies of dead HAMAS militants.

The detailed instructions, written in Arabic, point at a high degree of planning and serious intelligence-gathering, the newspaper wrote.

"They knew exactly what the targets were going to be," WSJ quoted Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer, as saying.

One of the documents, labeled ‘top secret’ in Arabic and dated June 15, 2023, shows a plan of infiltrating kibbutz Mefalsim. It says that "two teams of five and a commander would carry out the operation on ‘Hour S, Day Y.’" The 14-page document contains maps and aerial pictures of the community, along with information that it has a population of around 1,000 people and is guarded by a volunteer security force. It also points out that Israeli troops, headquartered nearby, can arrive "within 3-5 minutes." The plan says that the militants were supposed to take hostages for negotiations.