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The 2022 Hamas TV Show That Foretold Oct. 7: A Scripted Nightmare Turned Real

Itamar Marcus  |
  • One year after Oct. 7, PMW is rebroadcasting segments of a 2022 Hamas TV show that very accurately described Hamas' terror attack of Oct. 7, 2023
  • Sinwar bragged in 2022: "This [TV] creation is not different in any way from our very great imaginative powers"

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 very actions it later carried out, it 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."

There are varying explanations for why Hamas publicly revealed its attack plans a year before October 7.  Some think 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."

[Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 4, 2023]

In any case, the tragic fact remains that it 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:

Click to play

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]

Then Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar 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."

Wattan TV broadcast the above and published the following article about it:

Headline: "In video: The ‘fantasy' that turned into reality in the hands of Al-Sinwar in ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood'"

"Exclusive for [the independent Palestinian news agency] Wattan:

There are those who still don't believe it when reconstructing the sights of the Oct. 7 operation and the invasion of dozens of the occupation (i.e., Israel) army's posts, taking control of them, and taking hundreds of soldiers and settlers captive (i.e., Hamas' invasion of Israeli towns and massacre to launch its terror war on Israel; see note below). They tell themselves: ‘This is acting or a movie.'

The Oct. 7 operation is considered a strategic operation of the resistance, whose preparation lasted months under great secrecy. The occupation army was unable to obtain information about it or predict it (the Israeli army had information about Hamas' plans, but a decision was made to take no action on the assumption that Hamas was deterred -Ed.), and despite this, a number of its details, the process of its events, and even its name were revealed to the public months before it took place.

In [the Muslim fasting month of] Ramadan 2022, Palestinian [TV] drama creators in the Gaza Strip presented a dramatic creation named ‘Fist of the Free People.' It may be that many didn't watch it, and it may be that there are those who thought that it contains a lot more fantasy and imagination than reality, but the resistance and its commanders understood what would come in the future and what they were intending to do, far beyond what the [TV] show presented.

The [TV] show, which was produced by the Hamas Movement, shed light on the intelligence war between the resistance and the occupation. Its episodes lay out an imaginary scenario of an operation by the resistance. It is a strange case that the resistance members in ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' (Hamas' name for its terror war against Israel -Ed.) carried out the show's script in great detail, and the true pictures and sights even resembled scenes in the show.

Israel accuses Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Al-Sinwar of planning ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' operation and of responsibility for it. If we go back, we discover that Al-Sinwar himself honored the show's team and expressed his admiration for it and for those responsible for it. In a speech he gave, he said that it has a very great and important influence, and that it is not disconnected from the preparations and activities of the [Izz A-Din] Al-Qassam Brigades (i.e., Hamas' military wing) in all the military and intelligence fields. He also said that this is a very great creation and part of the project of return and liberation.

In light of the imagination and the overlap between many episodes of the show and ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' operation, there are those who say that it may be that the plan of ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' was produced as a drama and presented publicly even before it took place, in order to ridicule the occupation afterwards and prove its intelligence failure.Others say that it may be that the show's script and its events found favor with Al-Sinwar, and he wanted to implement them in practice, which he was indeed able to do.

The show ‘Fist of the Free People' focuses on the Israeli commando's failed infiltration operation in the Gaza Strip in 2018 (refers to Israel-Hamas clash in November 2018; see note below -Ed.). A force of the Al-Qassam [Brigades] exposed it and confronted it. As a result of this, ground commander Nour Barakeh (i.e., Hamas commander of Khan Yunis) died as a Martyr, and the resistance took control of intelligence equipment that was in the possession of the [Israeli] infiltrating force, which left it behind during its escape.

This operation… reflects what is known as ‘the battle of the minds' between the resistance and the Israeli occupation's intelligence services. This battle was indeed seen clearly in ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' operation, in the strategic deception that the resistance carried out for more than 2 years until the moment that was determined as the zero hour for execution, and also in the operation to paralyze the occupation's intelligence capabilities. Relying on this, in many scenes the show illustrated imaginary events of resistance activity, which are similar to the point of overlapping with ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' operation in terms of the [Israeli] sites [that were attacked], the targets, and the manner of implementation…

The show's events present the many wars against the Palestinian people and specifically in the Gaza Strip, the political and economic consequences of the [Israeli] siege on the Gaza Strip residents, the development of the resistance, and its moral superiority on everything concerning its treatment of the Israeli captives as opposed to the suffering of the Palestinian prisoners (sic.). Specifically this detail attracted attention last week while the exchange deal was carried out (i.e., deal to release Palestinian terrorists in exchange for Israeli hostages during Israeli counter-terror operation against Hamas' terror war on Israel -Ed.), when the world was witness to the treatment by the resistance members in the Gaza Strip vis-à-vis the Israeli captives in terms of providing medical treatment and taking interest in their condition without harming or attacking them (sic., the released hostages testified to various forms of physical and psychological abuse). This was clear during the handing over [of Israeli captives to the Red Cross], when the [Israeli] prisoners bid farewell of their own initiative to the Al-Qassam [Brigades] members and thanked them, with smiles on their faces (sic., refers to hostages who were drugged with tranquilizers and forced to smile; in one video a Hamas terrorist is heard threatening them to "keep waving"). This is while the children (i.e., terrorist minors) left the occupation's prisons with broken arms and in awful health as a result of torture and blows (sic., refers to released terrorist claiming his arms were broken, but video from his release exposed his arms were fully healthy; the other released terrorists likewise were filmed celebrating their release in good health).

What is interesting is that the show ‘Fist of the Free People' is not the only artistic creation that hinted at ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' operation. If we go back to the rally to mark the anniversary of Hamas' establishment in December 2022, we discover that its headline was ‘We Are Bringing a Thundering Flood.' At the same time a song was launched bearing the same name, whose words herald the future flood. Despite this, the events presented in the show and the messages hidden within the rally for the establishment of Hamas were a fantasy for many, including the occupation's intelligence services, which are monitoring every small detail in the Gaza Strip – and they woke up on Oct. 7 to a reality more difficult than any imagination.

Viewers shed light on the similarities between the show and ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' events; in the show resistance members succeeded in taking control of the Re'im military base and the headquarters of the occupation army's Southern Command. It may be that this was the main goal of ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' operation – eliminating the Gaza Division (sic., the Gaza Division was not eliminated, although its base was attacked).

The show presents an officer in the occupation army telling one of his soldiers that what is happening is a battle that will completely eliminate the State of Israel or a rehearsal ahead of that. These are statements that [Israeli] occupation Prime Minister Netanyahu truly made after the outbreak of ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' battle (sic., PMW was unable to find record of such statements), while the Al-Qassam Brigades emphasized that ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' battle is preparation for the battle of liberation and a part of it.

The show also sheds light on the sophistication of the resistance's logistical and technological capabilities, which was expressed by the ability to disrupt the occupation's devices, hack into them, and take control of them. It may be that this was one of the reasons for the success of ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood' battle on Oct. 7. Likewise, many pictures of [people] going up on tanks and taking soldiers captive were identical to what happened in ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood.'

The show did not forget to shed light on the consequences of the resistance's actions on everything concerning mass uprooting of settlers from Israel – which we have seen since the first day of ‘the Al-Aqsa Flood,' when the Lod Airport (sic., Ben Gurion International Airport) was crowded with settlers who travelled with no return. Likewise, thousands of settlers, whether in occupied northern Palestine or in the area of the Gaza Strip, promised never to return to their homes (sic., refers to Israelis in northern and southern Israel who were temporarily evacuated away from combat zones)."

[Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 4, 2023]

Yahya Sinwar

Israel-Hamas clash in November 2018

Hamas war on Israel October 2023

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