Ever since May 12, the day Israel received intelligence about the location of four hostages in the Nuseirat refugee camp area in the Gaza Strip, even every branch of Israeli intelligence was focused on the area. A team of undercover ‘Mista’arvim’ (units that assimilate into local populations to gather intelligence) were sent there, mainly in the local market of Nuseirat.

In order to verify information received and to prepare the grounds for the operation, another team of undercover soldiers (including several women dressed in hijabs and long black dresses) was sent into the Nuseirat refugee camp. Pretending to be two Gazan families looking for a large house in Nuseirat, they arrived in two cheap-looking old cars loaded with domestic items characteristic of those families displaced in the Strip, such as mattresses and clothing identical to those of the locals.A few days later, after settling into the house and getting to know the area, including shopping at the local market, and realising that they did not arouse suspicion, the undercovers began their mission: verifying the location where the hostages were held.