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Israeli Ex-Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman Eerily Outlined Hamas Border Breach Before It Happened

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Ilan Hulkower Contributor
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Avigdor Lieberman, former Israeli Minister of Defense, eerily outlined Hamas’ plans to breach Israel’s borders in an 11-page document back in 2016.

Israeli media published select portions of the document Monday, The Times of Israel reported. (RELATED: ‘We Will Fight And We Will Win’: Benjamin Netanyahu Announces Second Phase Of War Against Hamas Has Begun)

The document, which was presented to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, detailed Hamas intended to invade Israel by their well-trained Nukhba (commando) unit that would seize Israeli communities and take hostages, the outlet noted.

“Hamas intends to take the conflict into Israeli territory by sending a significant number of well-trained forces (like the Nukhba [commandos] for example) into Israel to try and capture an Israeli community (or maybe even several communities) on the Gaza border and take hostages. Beyond the physical harm to the people, this will also lead to significant harm to the morale and feelings of the citizens of Israel,” the document read, according to The Times of Israel.

Lieberman lobbied in the document Israel make plans to militarily destroy Hamas in Gaza before 2017. He estimated Hamas would re-arm after the last round of the Israel-Gaza conflict and warned against Israel overly relying on its border defenses.

“[F]ences and fortifications do not prevent war and do not constitute a guarantee for peace and security,” Lieberman wrote, according to the outlet.

Hamas did employ the Nukhba unit to breach Israel’s border Oct. 7, and they killed more than 1,400 Israelis and took more than 200 people hostage.

Lieberman is currently a member of Knesset, Israel’s parliament. He has backed the war effort and demanded it end with the destruction of Hamas and “the removal of Hezbollah far from the border beyond the Litani [river in Lebanon].”