Hamas broke into dozens of cameras in the surrounding settlements before October 7

• Published date: 15 March 2024
• Author: JERUSALEM POST STAFF
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Hamas' central intelligence body is called the "Internal Security Force" (ISF), according to Israel Defense. Prior to the October massacre, it numbered 2,100 operatives and was equipped and trained by Iran and Hezbollah, Israel Hayom reported. Israeli departments followed ISF closely and believed that they knew its capabilities, and recently, several countermeasures were taken to damage and weaken ISF, Israel Hayom reported

Additionally, in the first days of the war, one of the more prominent figures in ISF, Ayman Nofal, was eliminated. However, only after the IDF raided Gaza and managed to enter ISF's underground offices and server rooms was the true magnitude of Hamas' intelligence prowess revealed. This revelation left the IDF's intelligence personnel at a loss for words.

For example, the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate knew for some time that ISF managed to break into some civilian security cameras in Israel and collect information through them. Only when the soldiers investigated MID's large underground server rooms did the IDF discover that dozens of cameras had been hacked, some of which were inside the surrounding kibbutzim. The army now admits that the camera issue was identified in advance but was not dealt with appropriately.

Israel underestimated Hamas's cyber capabilities

Another area in which Israel has underestimated Hamas was in cyber. The IDF has been aware of ISF attempts to hack soldiers' cell phones for a while. Even so, only by entering Gaza and conducting a hands-on investigation did the IDF discover that their assumptions were only the tip of the iceberg of Hamas' cyber operation.

The IDF acknowledges now that some Hamas infiltration attempts were not detected. Despite the organization's relatively limited cyber capabilities, the intelligence it retrieved from phones it did manage to break into served it well on October 7.

Furthermore, Hamas has managed to develop observational capabilities that included drones, which...