Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday to significantly heighten its operational vigilance throughout the Gaza Strip and prepare for every offensive scenario by Hamas. The directive was issued following actionable intelligence indicating intentions by the terror group to exploit the symbolic anniversary date to carry out coordinated attacks against deployed IDF troops. While there is no single concrete operational warning, the measure comes amid a persistent sequence of security incidents in recent months, including ambush attempts, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and sustained concerns over troop abduction efforts.
Katz demanded heightened operational readiness and uncompromising alertness across all commands. His bureau confirmed that the minister instructed the IDF to elevate alert levels and remain braced for any scenario in light of information regarding Hamas’s intentions to mount attacks against forces on the anniversary. Katz stressed to operational commanders that no intelligence lead should be taken lightly, ordering aggressive, decisive action to preempt and neutralize threats before they materialize, exceeding the routine posture in the Strip.
Concurrently, the defense minister conveyed an unequivocal warning directly to Hamas. If IDF personnel in the field are harmed, the organization and the residents of the Gaza Strip will pay an exceptionally heavy price, completely disproportionate. This warning echoed sentiments emphasized earlier this week during an operational visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the defense minister to the Kissufim outpost along the Gaza border, alongside the Head of Southern Command.
The official statement read: “Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to elevate vigilance and be prepared for every possible scenario in Gaza ahead of October 7 tomorrow, following intelligence reports on Hamas’s intentions to attempt attacks and strikes against our forces in Gaza on this date. The Defense Minister emphasized the need to prepare for the most severe scenarios and act with immense strength on any intelligence lead or warning to thwart any threat, beyond the powerful operations being carried out today. If, Heaven forbid, our forces are harmed—the ones who will pay the heavy price will be Hamas and the population of Gaza—beyond all proportion—as the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister clarified this week during their visit to the Kissufim post on the Gaza border together with the Head of Southern Command.”
The elevated alert does not take place in a vacuum, but against a backdrop of acute operational friction on the ground. In recent weeks, defense officials identified repeated attempts by Hamas cells to advance attacks against deployed units. Among these was a planned ambush against 99th Division forces near the Yellow Line, where dozens of terrorists prepared to assault soldiers and attempt abductions, alongside the detonation of an explosive charge targeting an unmanned IDF engineering vehicle, which caused no casualties.
Within counter-terrorism efforts, the IDF and the Shin Bet have recently eliminated several senior Hamas operatives. Additionally, the Israeli Air Force struck more than 140 targets across the Strip over the past month, targeting terror squads, weapon depots, and militant subterranean infrastructure. A central priority highlighted by defense analysts centers on the acute threat of kidnapping attempts, as extensively reported by military correspondent Hillel Bitton Rosen and diplomatic correspondent Sraya Harush.
All of these dynamics converge ahead of tomorrow’s commemoration of the war’s third anniversary. Security agencies assess that Hamas will seek to manufacture a “propaganda achievement” by striking high-profile Israeli symbols or forward-deployed forces in Gaza. The Defense Minister’s directive is aimed at executing a preemptive stance—maximizing alert posture, enforcing stringent operational protocols, and taking uncompromising action to crush any attempted assault, while leaving no doubt as to the devastating strategic toll that will be extracted from Gaza should red lines be breached.