Residents of areas classified as "humanitarian" in the Mawasi Khan Younis and its surroundings near the beaches of Deir al-Balah in the southern Gaza Strip were surprised by leaflets dropped by Israeli drones that brought them cigarettes for smoking and incited against the leadership of Hamas, particularly its new leader Yahya Sinwar. This is not the first time Israel has dropped leaflets inciting against Hamas leadership, but it is the first time it attempts to exploit the needs of smokers in Gaza, a significant number, to obtain information about Sinwar's whereabouts or any leader from his movement.
The Israeli army accompanied a considerable number of the dropped leaflets with one real cigarette, and the leaflet stated, "Smoking is dangerous, but Hamas is more dangerous," along with a picture of Sinwar, whom they labeled as "oppressive." On another page of the same leaflet, there is an image of a cigarette, sometimes wrapped with a real cigarette, with the message: "Hamas burns Gaza," and below it: "Want more?" providing a WhatsApp number belonging to Israeli intelligence.
An Israeli security official stated to a channel that distributing cigarettes with the announced messages aimed to send a message against Hamas, which cannot control governance in the sector. He added that the goal was to reinforce the challenge and condemn the movement for its inability to impose public order. While the Israeli campaign seemed to mock Hamas and its leaders, many citizens ridiculed what was thrown at them, even though they rushed to try to grab the cigarette attached to some of the leaflets.
