Overview
- Israeli investigators say a short emoji sequence circulated on WhatsApp served as the order to mobilize for the October 7 assault.
- The assessment is based on forensics from mobile phones taken off Nukhba operatives during the attack.
- The identical emoji combination appeared in September 2022 and April 2023 during preparations for large operations that were not carried out.
- Hours before the raid, the coded message prompted militants to assemble at mosques or other points, receive final orders, and then move to underground sites or armories to gear up.
- Senior officials acknowledged they would not have identified activation of Hamas’s “Jericho Wall” plan in advance, noting WhatsApp encryption and only-after-the-fact analysis of traffic patterns and emoji-laden messages.