JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Hamas is likely to try to strike Israeli forces before the Oct. 27 election, arguing that the group’s weakness makes a provocative attack more, not less, likely.

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Opening the weekly Cabinet meeting on the eve of the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Netanyahu said Hamas would use what remains of its forces to challenge Israel in an effort to shape the vote. He said the military is prepared to stop such attempts and would answer any attack with overwhelming force.

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“Israel is the strongest country in the Middle East, and our enemies are weaker than ever,” Netanyahu said. He told Israel’s adversaries to look at what the country has done “on seven fronts in the War of Revival” and added, “Don’t mess with us.”

The warning came hours after Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the Israel Defense Forces to raise readiness in Gaza. The Defense Ministry said the order followed intelligence that Hamas intends to carry out assaults and attacks against Israeli troops in the Strip on Wednesday, the anniversary of the invasion that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

Katz told commanders to prepare for the worst and to act on any warning to block a threat. He said that if Israeli troops are harmed, Hamas and Gaza’s population “will pay a heavy price, beyond all proportion.”

The anniversary alert fits a broader pre-election warning Netanyahu has pressed for more than a week. On Sept. 29, speaking at Tel Nof Air Force Base, he said there were indications that Israel’s enemies would try to attack ahead of the vote and that Israel’s “long arm” would reach them anywhere. Opposition leaders, including Yair Lapid, sought briefings and said security threats should not be mixed with the campaign. Security sources told Israeli outlets at the time that the army had not identified a specific plot or raised alert levels.

Israeli media reported that at a recent security Cabinet meeting, Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder said roughly 4,000 of about 6,000 Gazans who crossed the border on Oct. 7 had been killed. Shin Bet chief David Zini was also reported to have told ministers that Hamas was preparing for a possible attack or a localized kidnapping attempt near the election or shortly afterward.

Israelis vote Oct. 27. Netanyahu is seeking another term after nearly three years of war that began with the Hamas-led assault and spread to fronts involving Hezbollah, Iran and allied militias. Officials have not publicly detailed a specific plot timed to Wednesday, but Katz’s order puts Gaza forces on heightened alert as memorial events begin.