Intercepted memo by Yahya Sinwar reveals Hamas’s intentions to ‘burn’ kibbutzim, broadcast atrocities — report

A six-page memo believed to have been written by slain Gaza ruler and October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar details Hamas’s plans to target civilians during the massacre and broadcast the atrocities live, The New York Times reports.

The document was found in May 2025, after the IDF raided an underground complex used by Sinwar’s brother and successor, Muhammed Sinwar, after he was assassinated.

The army says the latter Sinwar was killed in a tunnel at the European Hospital, where Hamas operated a command center.

The memo, from August 24, 2022, “appears to be a directive from Mr. Sinwar with instructions for the [October 7] assault,” seven Israeli officials told the Times. It ordered terrorists to target soldiers and residential communities, “as well as to broadcast the violent acts so as to evoke fear in Israelis and destabilize the country,” the report says.

The reported memo orders fighters to enter communities “with gasoline or diesel from a tanker.”

“Two or three operations, in which an entire neighborhood, kibbutz, or something similar will be burned, must be prepared,” the Times quotes the memo by Yahya Sinwar as saying.

Another reportedly intercepted memo from a Hamas battalion commander on October 7, just before 10 a.m., repeats the orders of the original: “Start setting homes on fire.”

“Burn, burn,” the commander says. “I want the whole kibbutz to be in flames.”

“Set fire to anything,” another Gaza City commander reportedly says.