Israel Exhibit Reveals Years of Hamas Planning Before Oct. 7 Attack

The “Return to October” exhibition presents a stark, immersive reconstruction of the Hamas-led massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, using video footage alongside declassified Israel Defense Forces intelligence and planning documents recovered in the Gaza Strip to show how the Palestinian terrorist group prepared for and executed its cross-border assault.

Spanning 600 square meters, the exhibition was created by the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC), a nonprofit organization that honors members of Israel’s intelligence community who were killed in service.

On display are vehicles used during the attack, a film focused on the abduction of Israeli hostages, a replica Hamas tunnel, and excerpts from the IDF’s 47-minute compilation of raw, unedited footage from the assault.

“The main conclusion of this exhibition is that Hamas prepared this terror invasion over a long period in a highly organized and professional manner. It gathered extensive intelligence over many years, and visitors can see examples of that intelligence-gathering effort throughout the exhibition,” Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Institute for the Research of the Methodology of Intelligence at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center, told INC News.

Kuperwasser said the exhibition’s most important element is the trove of documents seized by the IDF in Gaza, records he said Hamas never intended outsiders to see. Some of the materials suggest Hezbollah decided not to take part fully in the Oct. 7 attack because it feared Israel would launch a major military response. The documents also offer insight into Hamas’s ties with Iran, including the scope of Tehran’s involvement.

“The most important lesson is that Israel’s enemies are constantly planning large-scale terrorist attacks. They seek to wipe us off the map, and if you become complacent and assume they are not preparing such attacks, you are mistaken,” he said.

The exhibition’s first room features a map marking 114 points where terrorists breached the border into Israel on Oct. 7. Red circles identify the communities that were attacked, while a dotted red line traces where the attackers were ultimately stopped. According to the exhibition, about 4,300 Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist operatives entered Israel at the start of the assault, followed by another 1,500 to 1,700 Gazans described as “uninvolved civilians.”

Displayed in the room are Egyptian, North Korean, Russian, Chinese and Iranian-made weapons, alongside arms supplied to Hamas by Hezbollah.

The tour guide Eyal, whose last name could not be disclosed, displayed a kidnapping kit containing handcuffs, electric shock devices and syringes intended to sedate hostages, alongside what he described as a “spiritual kit” containing a miniature Quran and a fatwa, or religious ruling, calling for the killing of Israelis.

Another display features military gear belonging to former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, as well as a handwritten document recovered by the IDF from the European Hospital in Gaza.

“Here, he instructs Hamas terrorists to attack the Zionists, burn villages, kill and kidnap people, humiliate soldiers, and document everything using GoPro cameras for social media,” Eyal said.

The document also states that Sinwar hoped Iran, the Houthis, Hezbollah, Arabs in Judea and Samaria, and Arab citizens of Israel would join the assault.

Also on display are aerial photographs that Hamas used to map Kibbutz Be’eri, identifying individual homes, the armory and the security chief’s residence; an operational plan dated Oct. 6 that was shared only with Hamas commanders to prevent leaks; and a booklet translating Arabic phrases into Hebrew.

The exhibition also highlights Hamas education and incitement. Shelves display books recovered from Gaza, including copies of Mein Kampf found in schools, while photographs show children posing with weapons after attending Hamas summer camps.

“It begins in childhood,” Eyal told INC News.

Another room focuses on Hamas’s exploitation of journalists and UNRWA for terrorist purposes, featuring displays that organizers say show 60% of reporters killed in Gaza were Hamas members or affiliated with the organization, a photograph of a UNRWA school allegedly used as a combat headquarters, and a map of Israel labeling towns and cities with Arabic names.

A garage-like room displays a white Toyota pickup truck and motorcycles used in the terror assault.

“We found that 153 pickup trucks and 350 motorcycles entered Israel that day. Many of these Toyotas were imported into Gaza through Ashdod Port in Israel,” Eyal said.

Another room shows excerpts from the IDF’s 47-minute compilation of raw footage from the attacks. Many journalists chose not to watch because of the graphic content, while some who remained in the room left in tears.

Toward the end, a corridor displays the names and photographs, in alphabetical order, of the 1,224 people killed during the attacks, including soldiers, police officers, civilians, Jews, Arabs, Christians, and Druze.

“When we fail in our mission, this is the situation we arrive at,” Eyal said.

The final room features footage of Israeli hostages reuniting with their families and concludes with an optimistic painting depicting a flourishing southern Israel.