Six‑page memo allegedly from Yahya Sinwar details tactics for Oct. 7: NYT

• 'Israeli' forces allegedly recovered a handwritten six‑page memo and intercepted battlefield communications.
• The materials were found after the May 2025 killing of senior Hamas commander Mohammed Sinwar.
• 'Israeli' intelligence believes the memo was written by Yahya Sinwar and dated Aug. 24, 2022.

The New York Times on Saturday published an image of a six‑page document allegedly recovered from a computer inside an underground compound.

Following the May 2025 killing of a senior Hamas commander, Mohammed Sinwar, 'Israeli' troops allegedly entered an underground compound the commander had used and discovered a standalone computer, one that was not connected to a network and therefore beyond the reach of routine signals intelligence, The New York Times (NYT) reported.

Stored on that machine was an image of a six‑page, handwritten Arabic document that 'Israeli' intelligence believes was written by Yahya Sinwar, a leading Hamas figure who helped plan Operation Aqsa Typhoon, the officials said.

Dated Aug. 24, 2022, the handwritten note reads like an operational directive, laying out tactics and objectives for a surprise assault, according to seven 'Israeli' officials who examined the material. The memo instructed fighters to strike both military targets and civilian communities, to film their actions, and to use the broadcasts. Officials said commanders issued comparable orders on Oct. 7 itself, as revealed by hours of intercepted voice communications between field leaders and their subordinates that 'Israeli' intelligence captured during the assault.

'Israeli' examiners say the memo undercuts public statements from Hamas leadership that sought to portray the attack differently. While the document does not explicitly direct kidnappings or murder of civilians by name, it orders fighters to enter populated neighborhoods and to set them ablaze “with gasoline or diesel from a tanker.” It also contains this passage: “Two or three operations, in which an entire neighborhood, kibbutz, or something similar will be burned, must be prepared.”

Intercepted radio traffic on the morning of Oct. 7 appears to echo those instructions. Just before 10 AM, a Gaza City battalion commander identified as Abu Muhammed is heard urging fighters, “Start setting homes on fire.” The recording captures him repeating, “Burn, burn,” and saying, “I want the whole kibbutz to be in flames.” Around the same time, a northern Gaza commander known as Abu al‑Abed told his unit, “Set fire to anything,” according to the transcripts.

The newly disclosed documents and recordings expand the picture of how Hamas both planned and executed the assault.

Reviewers translated hours of exchanges in Arabic that included conversations among commanders and fighters across multiple units. Those recordings capture commanders urging extreme violence and the taking of captives. In one exchange, a commander from a Jabaliya unit identified as Abu Muath responds affirmatively when asked whether to confront people on the road. “Kill everyone on the road,” he said. “Kill everyone you encounter.” In another, Abu Muath is heard urging fighters to “take a lot of hostages.”

The memo also underscores a strategic objective beyond immediate battlefield gains: the authors allegedly called for filming the events and broadcasting them rapidly to the Arab world, intending to mobilize Palestinians in the West Bank, Arabs within 'Israel', and “our nation” to join a wider uprising.

“It needs to be affirmed to the unit commanders to undertake these actions intentionally, film them and broadcast images of them as fast as possible,” the document states.