Hamas warned Israel that it is ready to launch a new attack similar to the massacre on October 7, 2023. The threat concerns not only border settlements: the organization named the territory of Israel, Judea and Samaria, as well as the possibility of actions abroad. The message, transmitted through a senior UN representative, was reported by Israeli Ynet on October 22, 2026 reported Israeli Ynet.
Author: Lev Varshavsky
This is not an announcement of a scheduled attack. But it is not a rally speech either: according to journalists, the content of the warning was urgently conveyed to the country’s leadership.
How the warning was conveyed to Israel
Last week, Hamas leaders met in the Gaza Strip with Ramiz Alakbarov, acting UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. According to Ynet, they asked him to personally convey the threat to the Israeli side.
On October 21, Alakbarov met with Major General Yoram Halevi, head of COGAT — the Israeli agency responsible for coordinating civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.
The directions listed by Hamas include Judea and Samaria — as Israel usually calls the West Bank of the Jordan River, where Palestinian cities and Israeli settlements are located. The published message does not name specific foreign countries or targets.
There is no official public confirmation of the transmission of this threat from the UN yet. At the same time, Alakbarov himself made a statement on October 6 condemning the killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence committed during the October 7 attack. The transmission of the message through a mediator does not imply support for its content.
Why Hamas is raising the stakes
According to Ynet, at the meeting, Hamas named three reasons for its warning: IDF operations, the advancement of the “yellow line,” and the postponement of Palestinian elections.
“Yellow line” — the border marked on the map of the current location of Israeli troops in Gaza. According to another Ynet publication, the army controls about 64% of the sector’s territory, where two divisions and approximately 30 strongholds are located.
Palestinian sources claim that the line is shifting by tens of meters. Israeli military explains this as an intention to intercept threats before they reach settlements, rather than relying solely on the border fence again.
There is also a political conflict. On October 10, Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas canceled the vote scheduled for November 28, 2026, and set parliamentary and presidential elections for September 11, 2027.
These are elections for Palestinian authorities, not the Knesset. Abbas and his Fatah movement compete with Hamas; after the armed conflict of 2007, Hamas holds power in Gaza. The postponement of the vote exacerbates the long-standing dispute over who has the right to represent the Palestinians.
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Why the threat was voiced after three years of war
Ynet’s report includes an assessment by Israeli security forces: Hamas requires about 90 million shekels monthly to pay approximately 30,000 members of its structures — from rank-and-file to representatives of the armed wing.
This is not a confirmed number of combat-ready fighters. Separately, the publication names about 50,000 employees of the administrative apparatus in Gaza. Both figures are estimates, not the results of an independent audit.
Meanwhile, Israel continues strikes on commanders and members of the “Nukhba” — a special Hamas unit involved in the October 7 attack.
However, the elimination of individual militants does not equal the cessation of Gaza’s governance.
International mediators are seeking the disarmament of Hamas, while Israel has not yet allowed the proposed technocrat committee — civilian specialists for transitional governance — and the Palestinian police structure into the sector.
On how negotiations are stalling over the issue of weapons, NANews previously wrote in a material about Hamas’s reaction to the Peace Council’s plan.
The threat was voiced on the eve of Israeli elections
On October 27, elections to the Knesset will be held in Israel. Former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, who heads the “Yashar!” party, reacted to the warning. He accused Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of not achieving the war’s stated goals.
Eisenkot publicly presented the promise to end Hamas’s rule within 18 months on October 15, before the current warning. On October 22, he reiterated it in response to the threat message.
The published information contains neither the date of the alleged attack nor evidence that militants are already preparing an operation on the scale of October 7.
Underestimating such a signal is as wrong as declaring it a proven plan.
For Israelis, the decisive factor remains: who will govern Gaza without Hamas and who can guarantee that attacks on Israeli cities will no longer come from there?
The answer to this question will be required regardless of who forms the government after October 27.