But was ignored

Report: Intelligence service in Israel was aware of Hamas plans

Hamas fighters at a parade in the Gaza Strip in July 2023 (Israeli surveillance station in the background)

(Bild: APA/AFP/MAHMUD HAMS)

More than two weeks before the large-scale terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas on Israel on October 7, there were clear warnings from Israeli military intelligence, according to a media report. However, these were apparently ignored. Israel's army is examining the report.

On September 19, 2023, two weeks before the Hamas attack, a letter was circulated within the Gaza Division, the unit of the Israeli army that operates on the border with the Gaza Strip. In it, soldiers from the prestigious elite intelligence unit 8200 described Hamas training to attack military bases and civilian villages, according to public broadcaster Kan.

Superiors did not heed warnings
Warnings were also issued about plans by the Palestinian terrorist group to kidnap 200 to 250 Israelis, including women and children. However, the warnings were ignored by superiors. In the Gaza Division, it was assumed that, in the worst-case scenario, several dozen terrorists could penetrate Israel in three places. An Israeli army spokesman said on Tuesday that the TV report was being investigated.

No one was pounding the table and sounding the alarm.

Ein Militärkorrespondent des israelischen Senders Kan

A Kan military correspondent said: "The security system at the time sought to pacify the Gaza Strip by improving the living conditions of the civilian population, work permits for Palestinians and the lifting of restrictions on goods." Before October 7, the army had relied on the barrier on the border with the Gaza Strip, which reaches deep into the ground.

"On October 7, everything collapsed," the correspondent said. Senior members of the Gaza Division had apparently reacted with disdain to the intelligence warnings. "Nobody banged the table and raised the alarm."

"I want to cry and curse"
One soldier who was involved in drafting the document wrote in retrospect of the massacre on October 7: "I would like to cry, scream and curse." The commander of the Gaza Division had announced his resignation just over a week ago. "On October 7, I failed in the task of my life to protect the Gaza border area," wrote Brigadier General Avi Rosenfeld.

In April, the head of military intelligence, Aharon Chaliva, had already announced his resignation. Israel's Defense Minister Joaw Galant and the head of the domestic intelligence service, Ronen Bar, also took responsibility for allowing the bloody terrorist attack, which left more than 1,200 dead and more than 250 kidnapped, to happen. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, has not yet taken personal responsibility. Recently, tensions between Israel's political and military leadership have risen significantly in the dispute over the question of guilt.