Hamas used double agents, deceived Israel to carry out October 7 massacre

The Hamas leadership before carrying out the October 7 massacre deceived Israel into a false sense of security by activating double agents as late as the eve of the invasion to feed the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) with fake information. They also pursued secret negotiations designed to convince Israeli officials that the organisation wanted peace and economic stability, according to a study published on Wednesday by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).

The study reveals that a core part of Hamas’s strategy conceived in early 2022 was aimed at creating an impression that Israel’s “carrot and stick” policy, like threats to assassinate senior Hamas leaders with economic relief for Gaza, was working for them.

Till the the evening of October 6, Israeli intelligence was duped to think that conditions in Gaza were normal. This allowed Hamas to conceal its plans while arming and concentrating its forces, the study stated, citing a senior figure in Hamas’s military wing.

The military officer also said that the organisation had identified a major Israeli espionage network in Gaza as early as 2017 and subsequently recruited some of its members to work as double agents.

The claims made by the study are consistent with elements of the Shin Bet’s own investigation into the October 7 intelligence failure. The investigation agency too had said that normal Hamas activity was reported before the massacre despite indications that there could be an attack.

However, the claims that Hamas activated double agents to fool the Israeli security service has not been independently established.

Hamas acknowledges using deception

While Hamas officials have since the incident said they used deception as part of the preparations for the attack. In a late 2023 interview with Ammar Taqi, senior Hamas official Khaled Mashal admitted that, ahead of October 7, Hamas carried out strategic and tactical deception.

“Regarding the aspect of strategic deception and the method of deception, as I mentioned, there was a general feeling that [Gaza] [under Hamas leadership] was focusing on its affairs, and wanted to bring in a certain amount of fuel, electricity and aid, meaning [Gaza] was licking its wounds and pains because of the blockade imposed on it, and after the 21 war [Hamas] did not respond to the escalation [in actions] carried out by the occupation in al-Quds and Al-Aqsa,” Mashal said, as reported by The Jerusalem Post