As an excerpt, regarding the factors that caused Operation Al Aqsa’s start in Oct 7

Questioner: What factors, in your opinion, prompted the Palestinian resistance to launch the October 7th attack?

The first reason is that regionally you had a process of normalization with a number of Arab states having signed normalization agreements with Israel without insisting on a Palestinian state

The second reason has to do with the West Bank, and the fact that in the year of 2003, leading up to 7th October, you had a huge increase in settler attacks

About 1100 Palestinians have been displaced since 2022

And then the third reason has to do with Gaza itself, with the long siege that had been ongoing since 2007

Additionally, the occupation’s brutality in its crimes against our prisoners increased after placing them under the responsibility of the fascist and racist minister Ben Gvir

This included either killing by starvation, as with Sheikh Khader Adnan, or death by neglect for prisoners and the sick, like prisoner Nasser Abu Hmaid and prisoner Walid Abu Daqa

Or sentencing them to life imprisonments unparalleled in the world, reaching thousands of years, in unbearable conditions.

Now, the world has an opportunity to act and intervene to prevent this major confrontation

All our attempts to push the international will to restrain the occupation’s aggression against Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque had failed

He attacked and assaulted, And torture, without any deterrent

And the cries for help rose

From Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa, and our people in the West Bank

They did not hide their intentions to build their alleged temple on the ruins of the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) sacred site

They even brought the red cows to burn them and scatter their ashes as a practical declaration to demolish Al-Aqsa, and build the temple

They dared to insult the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) inside the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque

Here in Gaza, the systematic siege tightened

They intended slow death for our people

We could not stand idly by, or remain spectators

It was never in our creed as resistance to hesitate or delay in defending the Prophet’s (PBUH) sacred site

Thus, Al-Aqsa Flood became a necessity

To thwart the enemy’s systematic plan

With a devastating preemptive strike that was unprecedented, defending our sanctities, our people, and our resistance

We warned that this reality is unacceptable and unsustainable

But the occupation responded with attempts to deceive us, trying to neutralize our resistance in Gaza by offering limited improvements in Gaza’s living conditions

Offering partial relief in exchange for unlinking the situation in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and prisoners with the situation Gaza’s

This naturally reinforced our inclination to activate the military option especially with all other options failing

Questioner: The term used by Al-Qassam’s leader was noteworthy: that Al-Aqsa Flood was a preemptive war

Q: Does this mean that Israel was preparing to strike Gaza?

Good question

There were talks within Israeli security agencies, especially at the security level and, to a lesser extent, the political level around Netanyahu,

On the security level, and the Shin Bet

They said Israel must act regarding the situation in Gaza

We monitored signs and seized information confirming the enemy’s plans to initiate a devastating war on Gaza believing we would not align with their proposals

The information we obtained indicated specific timings for launching this treacherous attack, planned to commence immediately after the Jewish holidays with a surprise aerial strike, targeting all resistance factions, followed by a wide-scale and destructive ground attack on our people, land, and resources.

We took this information seriously, while maintaining contact with all mediators, and issued directives to intensify intelligence efforts and complete military preparations

An investigation by Israel’s Channel 12 revealed a meeting between Netanyahu and security heads on October 1st, 2023, just six days before the operation, where the Shin Bet chief presented a plan to eliminate Hamas leaders, including Sinwar and Al-Deif

The Chief of Staff agreed, stating: “We need a major campaign against Gaza” due to its responsibility for what he called directing terrorism in the West Bank

During the planning phase, the Intelligence Division obtained a document concerning the work of the occupation’s elite intelligence unit, Unit 8200, through a security breach of one of its servers

The document was studied and analyzed, and its content was incorporated into the planning process

This information points to a carefully crafted plan developed years before the operation, as referenced by Al-Qassam in some of the statements by its spokesperson Abu Ubaida

It will demonstrate how we managed to carry out a complex strategic deception against the Shin Bet and the enemy’s security apparatus over years

Hamas hinted on multiple occasions in its statements at Al-Aqsa Flood, without Israel picking up on any clue

Oh herald of the growling flood

Oh warning of the erupting volcano

Turn into a growling flood

Terrify the collaborators,

coordinators, and occupiers

We must say this:

Hamas succeeded in hypnotizing Israel

And succeeded in deceiving it

Carrying out a highly complex

operation over two or three years

The decision was to adopt a strategic deception and misinformation plan against the enemy

We made them believe we had swallowed the bait of ease measures

Meanwhile, preparations for combat were ongoing with full intensity

Beyond the question you asked, I heard someone say “whatever happened here?” with similar phrasing to your question, with a picture of tank man

When I see this, I just think “either this person is genuinely curious or is trying rhetorically imply some sort of western narrative against a certain political group or government” either way, they’re gonna be responded with arguments quite inflamed

Sorry if I seemed apprehensive