How to Prepare for a Hamas-style Home Invasion

Can the average person actually prepare for a Hamas-style home invasion? If you have never experienced an attack like this, then chances are that you think you’re better equipped and trained than you really are.

Remember: in a brutal attack—or any other event that catches you off-guard—you won't be able to fend off your attacks out of force of will alone. Instead, you will fall back on the types of training you are most proficient in. In other words, if you own a gun, but never train with it, then you will not simply retrieve it out of the gun safe and become John Wick.

For perspective, video footage of the recent incursion in Israel show as many as five Hamas terrorists in and around people’s homes at a time, many wielding AK-47 and M4 rifles. Needless to say, that is the type of danger that the average American can hardly comprehend. With a threat of that magnitude, no single person can be prepared to neutralize the attackers at a moment’s notice.

Take this violent home invasion in Pembroke Pines, Florida, for example. Though the victim thankfully survived with minor injuries, several struggles between the intruder and victim occurred before the latter was ultimately able to break free and flee the property. This, it should be noted, is the best case scenario for navigating a violent home invasion without having a plan in place.

So, how do you prepare for a home invasion, including a potential struggle with trespassers?

Let's begin.

Table of Contents

• 01

  Timeline of Attack

• 02

  American Civil Unrest

• 03

  PANIC ROOM!!

• 04

  Run AWAY!!!

• 05

  If You are Gonna Go Rambo...

• 06

  Final Thoughts on Preparing for a Hamas-style Home Invasion

• 07

  Frequently Asked Questions

Timeline of Attack

To be clear, the Hamas attack was a massive operation. Though we are going to look at the full scope of the attack through this timeline, the focus of this article is the home invasion elements of the attack—and how to respond and prepare for them.

That said, it is worth understanding how the well-fortified nation of Israel was essentially brought to its knees, and how the attack was coordinated over a twenty-four hour span that—at one point—even saw Hamas militants take control of an Israeli police station.

October 7th, 6:30 AM

The day commences with air raid sirens across Israel as an estimated 2,200 rockets are fired into the nation. During this attack, South and Central Israel are targeted, as are Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Hamas militants use a variety of methods to get into the country: They storm blockades on motorcycle, take the coasts by sea, and even use motorized paragliders.

October 7th, 10:30 AM 

Israel responds to the attacks with retaliatory jet strikes, leveling a residential high rise and the Al Sousi Mosque in Gaza City.

October 7th, 5:00 PM

Netanyahu addresses the nation and declares war for the second time that day. (The first came in the form of a digital announcement.)

October 8th, 5:00 AM

Despite the retaliatory strikes, the Hamas incursion remains ongoing in six locations across Israel. Consequently, thirty Israeli police are killed as rockets continue to pummel the nation. It will take hours before officials are able to release information on the full extent of casualties.

In this moment, the world looks on as another war blooms in the Middle East—and the dreadful loss of life that goes along with it. Particularly egregiously, the attacks that spur this iteration of conflict between Israel and Palestine happen in residential areas. As such, civilians are slaughtered and taken hostage by bands of Hamas militants armed with weapons.

All of this begs the question: Could something like that happen here?

In fact, let’s make it a little more personal. Could you find yourself in the throes of a home invasion with several armed assailants?

American Civil Unrest

From flash mobs to protests, the new block party in the U.S. is civil unrest. This, of course, has been a growing problem since 2020, which is why everyone should plan accordingly for 2024—an election year that promises to be an absolute mess from coast to coast. 

America, after all, has seen an uptick in radical ideologies in recent years. Plus, we also spent the better part of twenty years coping with what the government has called "a crisis at the border." This leaves us wondering: Are there sleeper cells in the US waiting for their chance?

Though the answer is unclear, what we know for sure is that there are already plenty of radical factions in our midst, and they will be headlining the block parties the closer we get to election time. It is important to emphasize, however, that we have not yet seen instances of radical protestors going door to door to commit violence.

Then again, this author can think of no better time to commit crimes than when a massive segment of the police force is busy dealing with widespread protests and civil unrest in urban areas.

Bottom line: A coordinated offensive by militants is, for now, in the realm of fantasy for most Americans. Violent home invasion, however, is an occurrence that we should all prepare for.

With this in mind, we raise the question: Do you have a plan for things that go bump in the night?

You or Your PlayStation 5

One of the most pronounced differences between Hamas’ attack in Israel and most home invasions in the U.S. is that Hamas was there with the express intent to kill people. Home invasions in the U.S., meanwhile, are almost always about stuff. The perpetrators, in other words, have two major priorities: looking for valuables, and then getting outta dodge!

That said, it is not like your door busts open at 2 AM, and the criminals declare, “We are only here for items of value!”

From this perspective, a great way to understand intent is to see if the intruders come upstairs towards your bedroom. In the event of a break-in, you should immediately call the police, but also prepare to defend yourself in your bedroom or another safe room. This entails getting everyone into the same room, and then shutting and locking the doors. 

Note that burglaries are going to happen quickly. After all, criminals want to take what they can and get out of there long before the police arrive. (They even seek to avoid confrontation with homeowners.) However, if the home invaders start making their way up the steps, and attempt to break into the room that holds your loved ones—well, that tells you a lot about their intent.

PANIC ROOM!!

If you wake up to the sound of vehicles growling down your block, and lights glaring into your windows in the middle of the night, it is going to knock you off kilter a bit. Nevertheless, it's a good time to gather your family in one room and figure out what is going on.

Before we proceed, a bit of history: During the Cold War era, some Americans were building fallout rooms in their homes. After the fall of the Soviet Union, though, these rooms transformed from fallout rooms to panic rooms or safe rooms.

In short, they become the very best hiding spot in the house for you and yours. As such, the walls are often fortified, there is air ventilation/climate control, and the door is concealed. In this way, the panic room provides you with the perfect place to phone the police and wait for them to arrive.

This, notably, held true during the recent Hamas incursion in Israel. Israeli citizen Irit Lahav, for example, held off Hamas by barricading a safe room door for twelve hours.

“Everywhere endless, endless, endless shooting and grenades," Lavav recollected. "So, I’m trying to figure out what to do. Are they going to maybe break into our door? How can I make sure it’s locked?"

Note that in Israel, all buildings are required to have a bomb shelter. Though it has been this way since 1993, these bomb shelters are not all outfitted with powerful locking systems to keep out intruders. 

Remember: Denying bad guys access is always a great technique, because they are almost always the ones up against time.

Of course, you may be daunted by the idea of such an enormous project.

If so, bear in mind that hidden safe rooms and/or panic rooms are not very hard to build —the toughest part is isolating the right location. That's because it could require partitioning off a larger room and creating a secret doorway, or other type of entrance.

With all of this said, don’t build a coffin! Your safe room, after all, needs to be large enough so everyone can move around a bit and breathe. Plus, there must be space to store preparedness items, food, and water. The capacity to charge phones is probably a good idea, too!

Run AWAY!!!

Dave Jones (often known as "The NBC Guy") has done everything. We are talking, after all, about a man who has spent more than a third of his life in the U.S. Army, with secondary careers in the police force, private investigation, and the most dangerous of all professions: teaching history to middle and high school kids.

These days, Jones travels the nation teaching a number of different courses—"Practical Survival in an NBC Environment" being one of his best. He also instructs a great course on viruses and biological warfare, as well as one on tactical movement, which he debuted last year at Prepper Camp 2022.

Though his courses deal with a broad range of topics, there is one throughline: the concept of dealing with others in an SHTF sort of scenario. Whether we are talking about a terrorist attack or home invasion, it’s a personal apocalypse for those involved.

For most kitted-up preppers at the gun range, the fantasy is that they will, one day, engage an armed threat in their home. Understanding the risks of this kind of thinking, Dave doesn’t pull punches with the people in his class.

He explains: “In the military, we have what is called 'acceptable casualties.' I want you to look around at your family or group and point out who the 'acceptable casualties' are.”

This eye-opening moment forces the attendees to give more thought to Dave’s best piece of advice when facing multiple armed attackers: "RUN AWAY!" The truth is, if running from a violent home invasion or a Hamas-style terrorist attack is an option, then you should take that as the blessing that it is.

Now, at this point, there may be some incredulous groaning in the back of the room, but you have to understand things can go terribly wrong in a home invasion. Remember, after all, that each year in America, there are 100 homicides attributed directly to burglary attempts.

If You are Gonna Go Rambo...

Don't say we didn't warn you: Getting in a firefight with intruders is a very personal decision that could come at an immense personal cost. You are, after all, anything but invulnerable, and as we mentioned earlier, offing the trespassers is not necessarily a win. Have you ever thought, for example, about taking down a bad guy with a gaming system under his arm, only to find out that you killed a fifteen-year-old kid?

In other words: Think it all through. That is what we are encouraging in this section.

Walk Through the Process Start to Finish

After you read this article, we want you to go up in your room and get naked. (Calm down, buddy.) Then we want you to put your pajamas on. Finally, lay down in your bed with your eyes closed for around five minutes, and then start to imagine that you have woken up to the sounds of a break-in.

Maybe someone is milling around downstairs, or you hear a window break. From your position, begin the process of getting out of bed and preparing to address the situation.

Remember: practice makes perfect. Yet the act of getting up out of bed in your Duke Nukem pajamas before seeking out weapons/gear is something that most people do not take the time to practice.

Protect Yourself

Don’t run into violence wearing only a tee shirt and underwear. If this is a home invasion, then the people downstairs could be armed—and don’t forget, you won't even know how many of them are down there.

This is where body armor comes in—a line of defense that might catch the bullet that was intended for your heart, lungs, or guts.

If you own and train with a chest rig, then you know they are quick and easy to put on. That said, the effectiveness of a plate carrier comes down to the type and quality of plates that you slip into it.

In this regard, MIRA Safety’s tactical Level 4 body armor is the ultimate solution to outfitting your plate carrier. We should all be looking for lightweight armor that can stop common rifle rounds like 5.56, 30-06, and 7.62x39. Though it may be hard to believe that serious armor plates can weigh as little as 6 lbs, MIRA’s do!

If you are new to the concept of plate carriers and body armor, then it might be time for you to study up!

Learn to Patch Holes Now

Remember: Bullets go both ways. That means that if you are dealing with armed assailants in a home invasion and you fire at them —well, they are gonna do one of two things. They will either run away, or they will fire back. Do you know how to prevent yourself or someone else from bleeding to death in the event that they are shot?

With these questions in mind, you need quick access to the gear, you need training, and you need practice. Better too much preparation than too little! While you may have tourniquets, for example, do you have them in your bedroom, or in various locations that are easy to access?

This is why a chest rig can be so effective, because you can have an IFAK (individual first aid kit) attached to the rig and ready to go.

Call for Help

Get EMS and police en route long before an in-home gunfight. After all, the turnaround time on police and EMS response is such that a life might still be held in the balance long after the altercation. (And wait times only seem to be getting longer...)

This is why it helps to be your own first responder from a first aid standpoint.

Final Thoughts on Preparing for a Hamas-style Home Invasion

There are many radical factions that have taken root in our nation. Granted, most are not given to violence, but the stakes are always being driven up by media twerps, politicians, and social media.

In this vein, the last three elections in this nation have been "THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIME!" This author has a sneaking suspicion that 2024 is going to read the same. (Well, it might be: "THE EVEN MORE IMPORTANTEST ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIME!")

This now-or-never, fight-or-flight mentality, combined with a threat-saturated society, is exactly what is necessary to convince people to commit heinous and barbarous acts.

So, faced with a Hamas-style home invasion, what is your plan? In this moment, we have the luxury of time, as we are more than a year away from the election. But the closer we get, the more common street agitators and radical incursions will become.

With this in mind, take your time and develop your own plan. Focus on home security, and know what steps you are going to take, should you wake to the sound of glass breaking or a door being kicked in.

Frequently Asked Questions