Qatari state-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera aired disturbing footage of senior Hamas commanders, including Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa, and other leading figures in the terror organization’s military wing, greeting one another, laughing, and gathering inside an underground Gaza tunnel. The rare footage, broadcast Friday as part of a special documentary, offers a chilling glimpse into the leadership of the terrorist organization responsible for the October 7, 2023 massacre that claimed approximately 1,200 lives in Israel. The footage shows senior figures from Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades assembled in an underground chamber, exchanging greetings before sitting together for a meeting and participating in communal prayers.
4+Among those identified are Deif, his deputy Marwan Issa, Mohammed Sinwar, Ra’ad Sa’ad, Ahmed Ghandour, and Rafa Salama, alongside other senior commanders. The commanders featured in the gathering have since been eliminated by Israel. The archival footage predates the October 7 massacre, with at least one gathering filmed before May 2021. Its release nevertheless offers a rare look at the men who occupied the highest levels of Hamas’s military command in the years leading up to the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The documentary, broadcast as part of Al Jazeera’s What Is Hidden Is Greater series, also featured previously unseen recordings, internal Hamas communications, military training materials, and purported secret operational documents detailing preparations for the October 7 invasion of southern Israel.
🚨🇮🇱 WATCH: Al Jazeera Airs Chilling Footage of Bloodthirsty Hamas Commanders Behind October 7 Massacre Laughing in Gaza Tunnel
Al Jazeera shamelessly aired footage glorifying senior Hamas commanders, including Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa and other evil masterminds of the brutal October 7 massacre that murdered approximately 1,200 people in Israel.
The commanders were subsequently eliminated one by one by Israel, alongside Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh.
The footage offers a disturbing glimpse into the men behind Hamas’s murderous campaign of terror, culminating in the October 7 atrocities: mass murder, sexual violence, and the kidnapping of men, women, children and the elderly, many of whom endured starvation in captivity.
— C14 News | EN (@c14english) November 1, 2026
Among the most significant revelations were documents presented by Al Jazeera as internal Hamas command records establishing the final operational timetable for the assault. According to the documents, an October 5, 2023 operational order signed by Deif following a six-hour command meeting established 6:30 a.m. as the precise starting time for the attack, just 48 hours before thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel. A separate document attributed to a February 2023 meeting of Hamas’s senior military leadership reportedly detailed preparations for the operation months before the massacre, underscoring the extensive planning that preceded the assault.
4+The command materials also outlined coordinated deception and diversion tactics designed to mislead Israeli intelligence and military surveillance. According to the documents presented in the broadcast, Hamas commanders instructed operational units and political leaders to maintain misleading public and military postures while preparing for the attack.The files further directed field commanders to activate defensive readiness measures immediately after the assault began, anticipating a rapid and forceful Israeli military response. Additional footage showed Hamas reconnaissance teams documenting sections of Israel’s border fence, IDF observation positions, and civilian infrastructure in Israeli communities bordering the Gaza Strip. Other segments featured Deif examining models of Israeli armored vehicles and discussing battlefield tactics with senior commanders, including the vulnerabilities of Israeli tanks and the anti-armor weapons Hamas operatives could employ during close-range attacks.
4+The documentary also showed Deif alongside Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh inside a Hamas rocket manufacturing facility, illustrating the coordination between the terrorist organization’s military and political leadership. On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorists breached Israel’s southern border, attacking civilian communities, military positions, and the Nova music festival. Approximately 1,200 people were murdered, while 251 hostages were abducted into Gaza, including men, women, children, and elderly civilians. The atrocities included mass killings, sexual violence, the destruction of entire families, and the prolonged captivity of hostages, many of whom endured severe deprivation, abuse, and starvation. Israel subsequently carried out an extensive campaign targeting the Hamas leadership responsible for the massacre and the organization’s wider military infrastructure.
4+Deif was eliminated in an Israeli airstrike in July 2024, while his deputy Marwan Issa was killed earlier that year. Yahya Sinwar, who led Hamas in Gaza and played a central role in orchestrating October 7, was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024. Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was also killed in 2024. Other senior commanders featured in the archival tunnel gathering were subsequently eliminated during Israeli military operations, dismantling much of the leadership structure that had directed Hamas’s military activities for years. The broadcast has also drawn renewed attention to Al Jazeera’s relationship with Hamas and the Qatari-funded network’s repeated access to exclusive footage, internal communications, and operational material belonging to the terrorist organization.
4+Rather than merely documenting the October 7 massacre and its architects, the retrospective presented an extensive account of Deif’s career, accompanied by rare footage of the organization’s senior leadership, military preparations, and underground operations. For Israeli audiences, the images carry a particularly disturbing significance: senior Hamas commanders gathered together in Gaza’s tunnels, smiling and exchanging greetings, while the terrorist organization they led was preparing the campaign of violence that would culminate in the October 7 atrocities. Nearly three years after the massacre, the footage offers a stark visual record of Hamas’s former military leadership, much of which has since been eliminated by Israel, and will never be a threat again.