Israel's military has raised its alert level in and around the Gaza Strip and ordered reinforcements across its air, sea and ground forces in the coming days, as security officials say they fear Hamas could attempt an attack to disrupt Israel's general election on October 27, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The IDF's Southern Command, the Israel Air Force, the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet security agency are preparing for a range of scenarios originating from Gaza, the Post reported. These include rocket launches, attacks on IDF positions along the Yellow Line — the ceasefire demarcation inside Gaza — and infiltration attempts targeting military outposts along both the Yellow Line and the border fence. Security officials said they were concerned such operations could be intended to disrupt Israel's public agenda ahead of the vote.
Maj.-Gen. Itzik Cohen, head of the IDF Operations Directorate, has ordered the reinforcements, which will include special forces units positioned as rapid-response and reserve forces, with the aim of preventing a surprise attack similar to the October 7 attack, the Post said. Additional ambush positions and defensive measures are being prepared, and commanders have examined areas where terrain or other conditions could limit surveillance. Security officials acknowledged that intelligence coverage remains incomplete, and said the military was taking precautions across all domains to minimise the risk of an unexpected attack.
Israeli reporting cited by NewsInIsrael said the IDF has elevated operational readiness in Gaza in recent weeks and intensified pressure on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, with security sources claiming an average of two to three field commanders and operatives were being killed daily, several of them, the sources claimed, while on their way to carry out attacks. Those are Israeli security sources' claims and were not independently verified. On Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited a large-scale Gaza Division command exercise built on lessons from October 7, and said the division must ensure such a failure never happens again, JFeed reported.
The alert comes under a ceasefire that took effect in October 2025 and has not ended the killing: Gaza's civil defence and hospitals said Israeli strikes killed seven Palestinians across the Strip on Tuesday, which Awaaz Punjab reported separately. Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire by moving the Yellow Line westwards and displacing families in northern Gaza; a senior Israeli government official told the BBC Israel rejected those claims outright, saying deployments were operational measures to protect Israeli citizens and prevent Hamas from rebuilding. Sources: Jerusalem Post via EuropeSays (Oct 21, 2026); NewsInIsrael citing Walla, Ynet and the Jerusalem Post (Oct 21, 2026); JFeed (Oct 20, 2026); BBC reporting on the Yellow Line (Oct 21, 2026).