Hamas said to threaten Oct. 7-style attack over IDF advance in Gaza, PA’s nixed election
Hamas reportedly told a UN official earlier this month that it was prepared to carry out an October 7-style attack in Israel, the West Bank or abroad, following the IDF’s expansion past the Gaza ceasefire line and the Palestinian Authority’s cancellation of legislative elections in November. UN humanitarian coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov was said to convey the message to Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevy, who wrote Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz that the threat was unusually blunt. According to an excerpt published by Channel 13 Saturday from Halevy’s memo, Alakbarov said he met in his Gaza office two weeks ago with senior Hamas officials who asked him to convey to Israel that “IDF activity in the Gaza Strip, the moving of the Yellow Line , and the cancellation of the elections by the PA are leading Hamas to lose control in the field.” The Yellow Line separates Israeli forces from the Hamas-controlled area in the Strip’s west under the ceasefire deal that Israel and the terror group agreed to last October, two years after the Hamas-led onslaught that sparked the Gaza war. Seeking to assure international backers that the PA could govern postwar Gaza, PA President Mahmoud Abbas had set legislative elections for November 28, but earlier this month postponed them until September 2027, citing “obstacles posed by Israeli measures.” Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms The PA has not held legislative elections since 2006, when Hamas won and then violently ousted Abbas’s Fatah faction from Gaza. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas attends the inauguration ceremony of the Innovation and Excellence Compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, September 9, 2026. (AP/Mahmoud Illean) The excerpt published by Channel 13 said Hamas officials “made clear” to Alakbarov that “they are unwilling” to put up with the Israeli encroachment and with the suspension of PA elections. “Against this backdrop, they threatened that, as they see fit, Hamas is ready to again carry out an attack such as the October 7 attack, and that it is prepared to act in this vein on any front in which this becomes possible,” in Israel, the West Bank or abroad, according to the excerpt. Advertisement It added that “this is an unusual threat message, which hasn’t been previously conveyed in this level of bluntness and directness.” The Israeli security establishment is checking whether the threatened attack is feasible given the IDF’s presence in the Gaza Strip. Israel currently controls over 60% of the territory, with Hamas the de facto ruler of the rest. Israeli soldiers are seen at a military position overlooking the so-called Yellow Line in the central Gaza Strip, on May 26, 2026. (AP/Ariel Schalit) The Ynet news site, which first reported the message from Alakbarov, said Israel’s security cabinet was briefed that Hamas has ramped up preparations for renewed fighting, including by stockpiling weapons and moving them to civilian areas. Hamas assumes Israel’s hands are tied on launching a large-scale operation until after the November 3 US midterm elections, Ynet said. Implementation of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza has stalled, with Hamas refusing to disarm and Israel refusing to withdraw from any part of Gaza until that condition is met. Meanwhile, the IDF has steadily expanded its control westward of last year’s ceasefire line, and continues to carry out daily strikes on what it says are terror operatives readying imminent attacks. 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