Unacknowledged False Flags: The October 7th Hamas Attack – Part 1

The Unacknowledged False Flag Substack series explores the evidence that indicates reported terrorist attacks were actually false flags orchestrated by elements within governments or those aligned to state interests. Unlike 9/11 or 7/7, these likely false flags are often overlooked. We’ll look at the evidence that suggests they were either allowed to happen (Let It Happen On Purpose – LIHOP), were directly facilitated (Make It Happen On Purpose – MIHOP) or were faked (hoaxes).

On 7^th October 2023, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, led an attack into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, which was then home to some 2.2 million Palestinians. This was claimed as justification by the Israeli government for its barbaric assault on the Palestinian people that the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) accurately describes as “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”

The Israeli government response to the Hamas attack is, quite obviously, the genocide of the Palestinian people. What did Hamas expect?

Hamas called its attack Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Israelis calls it the Simchat Torah Massacre or Black Saturday. We’ll refer to it as “the Hamas Attack” for no other reason than that being the most common nomenclature outside of Israel.

In January 2025, the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) passed a law making it an offence, punishable by up to a five year prison, for…

“denying the October 7 massacre [. . .] with the intention of defending, sympathizing with, or identifying with the Hamas terrorist organization and its partners.”

These articles are not a “denial” of the Hamas attack.

Nor, anywhere in this article, is the term “Israeli government,” or any other related term, used as a “code word for Jews.” I do not consider Jewish people to be any more able to control the actions of the Israeli government than I, as a British citizen, am able to control the British government. But we are all culpable to an extent.

Many Jewish people support the genocide of the Palestinians just as many British people supported the mass illegal murder of a conservatively estimated half a million Iraqi men, women and children. The ease with which some of us applaud indiscriminate slaughter is not a problem specific to one religion or culture. It is a problem for humanity.

Too many of us “trust” one authority figure or another—be it a political leader or a god—to do the right thing in our names. We watch evil proliferate because we imagine it’s for the greater good or some such other tripe. Ultimately, we exonerate ourselves with these inhuman beliefs. It’s not our problem until our children are burning in their beds.

I acknowledge the reported estimate of 1,195 Hamas attack fatalities, around 800 of whom were civilians, including infants and children. The Hamas attack was a despicable act of horrific violence. Nothing justifies it and I do not defend, sympathise nor identify with Hamas or its Islamist extremist partners. I do point to the evidence indicating that Hamas would not exist were it not for the consistent longstanding support it has received over the years from the Israeli government and its “partners.”

It is not clear, however, how many Israeli’s were killed by Hamas and how many were killed by Israeli forces. The Jerusalem Post reports that the Israeli Air force, at least, has conceded that it was running “the Sword of Damocles” operation on October 7th 2023.

This was in line with the Hannibal Procedure which directs Israeli Defence Force (IDF) troops to kill their own comrades instead of allowing them to be taken hostage. It was supposedly abandoned in 2008, but Col. Nof Erez, a senior IDF reserve helicopter pilot, told Haaretz that the carnage he had seen appeared to be a “mass Hannibal.”

Yedioth Ahronoth (Ynetnews) reported that the IDF admitted that “casualties fell as a result of friendly fire [. . .] in the kibbutzim and southern Israeli communities.” Yet IDF spokespersons added that it would not be “morally sound to investigate these incidents due to the immense and complex quantity of them.”

Numerous media reports and witness testimony from Kibbutzim and the festival suggest the possibility that a significant proportion of civilian deaths were likely the result of so-called “friendly fire.” Until the “immense” quantity of these “friendly fire” incidents is properly investigated, the number of Israelis killed by their own government’s forces will remain unknown. Therefore, the numbers killed by Hamas is equally unknowable.

The Official Story

At approximately 06.30 on 7^th October 2023, Hamas launched a mass rocket attack on Israel. Approximately 5,000 rockets were launched, some northward toward the Sharon Plain, striking cities like Gedera, Tel Aviv, and Ashkelon. Others were launched eastward toward cities like Be’er Shiva and towns like Ofakim and Netivot.

The bombardment coincided with a ground assault into southern Israel by an estimated 2,900 “fighters” primarily from the al-Qassam Brigades but also incorporating a notable contingent from the al-Quds Brigades (AQB)—the military arm of Islamic Jihad. They stormed the Israeli barrier surrounding Gaza known as the Iron Wall. Reportedly, they breached this high-tech defence simultaneously in 29 separate locations.

In addition, Hamas launched maritime attacks—notably on the IDF Bahad 4 base near Zikim—and accompanying aerial assaults. The al-Qassam Brigades and AQB used commercial drones to drop small explosive devices that disabled the automatic machine guns and surveillance antennae lining the Iron Wall. Importantly, these devices took out all of the key cellular communication towers along the Israeli defensive line. The Hamas fighters also flew small motorised para-gliders over the Israeli defences and used them to attack multiple targets behind the “wall” during the Attack.

Once small breaches were secured, bulldozers were used to enlarge them, This facilitated entry by a vanguard of fighters who stormed Israeli territory on foot, on motorcycles or in 4×4’s or trucks. Thus enabling relatively large numbers to enter and join the assault in minutes rather than hours.

The Re’im music festival—often referred to as the Nova Music Festival—was among the first locations attacked and is the place where the single largest loss of life occurred. In total 344 civilians and 34 security personnel were murdered.

Numerous kibbutzim, towns and villages within an approximate 30-mile radius of the Gazan border were attacked. Massacres were reported at Sderot, Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz, Be’eri, Nir Oz, Ashkelon and many other locations.

Key to disabling Israeli defences were the attacks on numerous IDF military bases and strategic positions. Between 06:30 and 08:30, the al-Qassam Brigades and the AQB successfully overran the Erez Crossing, the Nahal Oz military base, the base located near the Be’eri kibbutz, the Sufa outpost, the Re’im military base and a IDF observation facility near the Kerem Shalom kibbutz.

Of these, perhaps the most crucial raid was on the Nahal Oz surveillance control center and, within it, the all-female team of IDF “spotters” stationed in the Nahal Oz observation room—aka “situation room.”

The Nahal Oz base is home to the IDF Unit 414, which specialises in combat intelligence. Unit 414’s role is to gather intelligence in real time and disseminate that information to IDF field units. The female spotters in the Nahal Oz situation room were monitoring the surveillance cameras along the “Iron Wall.” From there, they would have dispatched forces to investigate suspicious activity or respond to any attacks. In addition, the unit oversees the multiple command centres for various IDF positions along the border.

Another significant and simultaneous attack by Hamas that morning was made on the Re’im military base. This is the headquarters of the IDF’s 143rd Gaza Division, which has primary responsibility for defending southern Israel in the immediate vicinity of the Gaza border. It is the first port of call for the Nahal Oz spotters. It appears that the al-Qassam Brigades held the Re’im base for most of the day.

By holding the Re’im military base for so long, a cluster of senior Israeli military commanders were captured or killed by Hamas in one location. As reported by the The New York Times:

[The attack on the Re’im military base,] combined with the communication problems caused by the drone strikes, prevented a coordinated response. This kept anyone along the border from grasping the full breadth of the assault, including the commanders who rushed from elsewhere in Israel to launch a counterattack.

By taking out the cell towers and Nahal Oz and by holding Re’im for many hours, the al-Qassam and al-Quds Brigades’ operation hobbled the IDF reponse. It was four hours before the IDF made any defence of the surrounding towns and villages and up to six hours before the IDF fully engaged with any Hamas-led forces. This allowed the al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades ample opportunity to seize military objectives, kill Israelis, take hostages and still have enough time to retreat to Gaza, hostages in tow.

The Unbelievable Official Story

We are led to believe that the Israeli government, its intelligence agencies and its military forces were taken by complete surprise by the Hamas Attack. Hamas was able to operate with relative impunity for many hours and the Israeli response was so disjointed that the billions it had spent on its defences was rendered entirely pointless for the best part of a day.

Yet, when we look at the evidence, this suggestion is utterly implausible. Any notion that Hamas could have planned, prepared, and executed the attack, and then escape with Israeli hostages without Israeli complicity is, frankly, absurd.

All the evidence clearly suggests that the October 7th Hamas Attack was a LIHOP false flag operation. It is impossible to conceive how it could have unfolded as it did without the connivance of elements within the Israeli government—or powerful forces aligned with Israeli state objectives—who deliberately allowed the Hamas Attack to proceed.

It is that evidence that we shall explore in detail in Part 2.

Iain Davis is an independent journalist a researcher from the UK. You can read more of Iain’s work at his blog IainDavis.com (Formerly InThisTogether) or follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his SubStack. His book Pseudopandemic, is now available, in both in kindle and paperback, from Amazon and other sellers. You can claim a free copy of his new book “The Manchester Attack” by subscribing to his newsletter.

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