Ahead of Israel's elections: the scenario worrying the defense establishment

Israel's defense establishment is examining a scenario in which Hamas launches a surprise attack on IDF forces in Gaza before Israel's elections, alongside the possibility that the organization avoids confrontation for fear of a harsh Israeli response. Meanwhile, the IDF reveals it killed five terrorists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the southern Strip.

Israel's defense establishment is currently examining a worrying scenario ahead of Israel's elections: whether Hamas is preparing a surprise attack on IDF forces in Gaza. Assessments in the army range between two main possibilities. The first: Hamas and the terror organizations in the Strip, including Islamic Jihad, are planning a broad and powerful operation that will come as a surprise attack. The second, more moderate one, holds that Hamas made a calculation and concluded that it cannot enter a major confrontation with the IDF at this time, out of an understanding that Israel is looking for an opportunity to act against it with greater force. Alongside these assessments, the IDF disclosed today (Tuesday) that it killed five terrorists from the terror organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the army's statement, the strike was carried out on Sunday in the Khan Younis area, and three of those killed were in the military wing of Islamic Jihad. They were killed, according to the IDF, while they were meeting to advance terror plots against IDF forces. The defense establishment further notes that Hamas and the terror organizations refrained from responding to Israel's targeted-killing policy in Gaza, and also did not act on the memorial day for October 7.