UGH: Hamas conned Israel into complacency by passing intel on Islamic Jihad.

According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Hamas provided unspecified information about Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an Iran-backed terror group in the Strip second in power only to Hamas.

The move was intended to build an image that Hamas wanted to avoid a conflict with Israel and instead was interested in some collaboration, the official said.

In May, when a several-day flare-up of violence broke out in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Islamic Jihad, Hamas pointedly remained on the sidelines, with many seeing the decision as a sign of either the group’s maturity or its weakness.

In the weeks since the October 7 assault, reports have built a picture of an Israeli intelligence establishment so deeply invested in the notion that Hamas was not looking for a fight that information and warnings of a possible attack, including Hamas battle plans that found their way into Israeli hands, were dismissed.

Senior Israeli officials have admitted that they were wrong in the assessment of Hamas’s mindset as well as Israel’s ability to thwart the group via technological means.

Hamas played a long game — and Israel forgot that Hamas’ only game is to murder Jews.