Nukhba terrorists succeeded in disabling Merkava Mark 4 tanks in the Gaza border area during the October 7 massacre using a secret button thought to be known only to tank crews.

IDF officials were puzzled for months after the massacre—how did Hamas discover such a classified mechanism and gain such detailed knowledge of the Merkava 4?

Army Radio reported that the answer came only months into the war, in early 2024, when IDF forces uncovered a massive underground complex in central Gaza known as “the Pentagon.” There they found documents and evidence showing that Hamas had spent years gathering detailed intelligence on Merkava 4 tanks (and other systems), acquiring highly sensitive information that formed the basis of parts of the October 7 assault plan. 

Hamas acquired the information mainly from social media posts, spending years monitoring tens of thousands of IDF soldiers and piecing together photos, videos, and seemingly harmless posts from bases, outposts, and the Shizafon training facility. They even used soldiers’ instructional clips demonstrating drills inside tanks.

Hamas used the information to assemble a “tank crew” force in Gaza for training purposes. Members of an elite Nukhba unit were trained as “tank crews,” learning how to drive and operate Merkava Mark 4 tanks by practicing on full‑scale models of Merkava tanks and using advanced simulator software that replicated real tank operations.

According to IDF findings, Hamas even planned for the Nukhba “tank crew” to capture tanks and drive them into Gaza to use them against Israeli forces. B’Chasdei Hashem, this plan did not materialize. However, their plan to disable tanks via the secret button succeeded, and the tanks were indeed rendered unusable in battle.

The report noted that the story exposes yet another layer of the October 7 failure. While Israeli intelligence dismissed Hamas’s training as theatrics or propaganda, the terror group was occupied for years carrying out meticulous, long‑term preparations for a large‑scale attack.

Evidence of attack plans found on captured or dead Hamas terrorists, along with additional material seized later in Gaza, highlighted how exposed IDF soldiers were: Hamas was aware of every internal gate on IDF bases, critical technical details of the tanks, and vulnerabilities in defensive barriers. 

A significant portion of this knowledge was gained due to soldiers’ lack of discipline in safeguarding sensitive information on social media—another failure in the series of IDF and Shin Bet failures.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)