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A 2022 Hamas TV Show Displayed the Oct. 7 Massacre; Why Didn’t Anyone Pay Attention?
The body of a motorist lies on a road following a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel October 7, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
In 2022, Hamas TV produced a show whose plot described in chilling detail the approaching Hamas invasion, killings, and kidnappings in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Watching Hamas’ 2022 broadcast highlights a critical question haunting Israelis since October 7: How did Israeli intelligence overlook the clear warning signs of the attack, given that Hamas not only rehearsed the actions it later carried out, but openly described its plans on TV?
Worse yet, in a 2022 speech, then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar openly confirmed that the plot in the TV show reflected Hamas’ plans:
Sinwar: “This [TV] creation is not different in any way from our [Hamas’] very great imaginative powers ... from their intelligence, and from their various fields of activity.” [emphasis added]
There are varying explanations for why Hamas publicly revealed its attack plans a year before October 7. Some think that Hamas wanted “to ridicule the occupation [i.e., Israel] afterward and prove its intelligence failure.“ Others say Sinwar took ideas from the show:
Sinwar liked the show’s script and its events, and he wanted to implement them in practice, which he was indeed able to do. [emphasis added]
[Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 4, 2023]
In any case, the tragic fact remains that this show was broadcast in 2022, and Sinwar confirmed that it was accurate, and Israeli intelligence did not take it seriously.
The following is from the 2022 Hamas broadcast anticipating the actual Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023:
Transcript of portions of Hamas’ 2022 TV show:
Hamas terrorist: “Today we invaded them, and they did not invade us.” …
Hamas terrorist: “We will move towards the Kissufim [army] post [i.e., Israeli town], and the moment we take control of it, we will start to move towards the Re’im base.” …
“Israeli officer”: “They must not reach this base.”
“Israeli officer”: “The location was secured, and we still don’t know what their [Hamas’] target is.”
“Israeli officer” 1: “No matter what happens, they must not reach this structure under any circumstances. What is happening is either a large battle that will completely eliminate the State of Israel or a rehearsal. A rehearsal ahead of the liberation battle.” …
A scene in an “Israeli intelligence headquarters”:
“Israeli officer” 1: “There’s something strange. The cameras on the [Gaza] border … were hacked without us [Israel] noticing. The same images repeat themselves. It looks like something serious is happening.”
“Israeli officer” 2: “They shut down the activity of all the radar and disrupted the broadcast. We can’t see what is happening through the satellites. Patrols on the border reported to the army defense command about an infiltration of dozens of armed people.” …
Images of soldiers being taken captive are shown.
Hamas terrorist 1: “Isn’t this dangerous for the Jihad fighters?”
Hamas terrorist 2: “They’ll take control of the site and totally erase the secret database. They have taken a large group of [Israeli] captives.”
“Israeli official” 1: “The state [of Israel] is in a difficult period. We don’t comprehend the event we are in…”
“Israeli officer”: “Israel is turned upside down. I fear this is Armageddon. The entire world is turned upside down. They’re invading us.”
[Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 4, 2023]
Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar said this at a ceremony honoring the creators of the TV show in 2022:
Sinwar: “This TV show has a very great influence on our people’s struggle, its Jihad … This [TV] creation is not different in any way from our very great imaginative powers, from the activity of our brothers in [Hamas’] Martyr Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, from their [weapons] production workshops, from their intelligence, and from their various fields of activity … On behalf of the [Hamas] Movement leadership, and on behalf of our people and nation, [I express] our great thanks and our appreciation to you over this wonderful [TV] creation…”
Comments by Palestinian Wattan TV in 2023:
“The [2022] show includes scenes like what indeed happened in [Oct. 7] ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood’” …
“In the show, they took control of the [Israeli] Re’im [army] base and the Southern Command headquarters, which indeed happened in the [Oct. 7] operation.” …
“[In Hamas’ 2022 show] the [surveillance] disruption that took place on Oct. 7 was also seen.”
“There were also scenes similar to the [Oct. 7] real events, such as [Hamas fighters] going up on tanks and taking [Israeli] captives.” …
“At the end of the [2022 TV] show, the operation’s results were presented, such as mass [Israeli] emigration and American aid.”
Itamar Marcus is Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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