Ex-IDF Chief Negotiator: Mediators Warned for Years Sinwar Was Considering a Major Kidnapping Operation

Col. (res.) Doron Hadar, who commanded the IDF General Staff's hostage-negotiation unit from 2007 until February 2024, said in remarks reported Friday, September 11, 2026 that mediators had warned for years before October 7 that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was considering launching a large-scale kidnapping operation to shift the group's negotiating position on a hostage-prisoner deal. 'The understanding was that in the absence of a hostage deal, there would be no other choice, and Hamas would take a game-changing step to alter its situation,' Hadar said, adding that the warnings never specified operational details such as timing, scale or method — only that Sinwar viewed a mass-capture operation as leverage to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners. Hadar said one of Hamas's central objectives on October 7 was 'to capture soldiers and civilians to get back prisoners.' The disclosure adds another entry to the growing catalogue of pre-October 7 warnings — alongside the 'Jericho Wall' document, IDF Military Intelligence letters, and this week's disputed Haaretz report on a UAE warning to Netanyahu — that current and former Israeli officials say were not acted on before the attack.