Israel knows all about the Hamas attack. But you didn’t believe?

The New York Times describes how the Israel Defense Forces ignored warnings about the threat from Hamas at least twice.

The Israeli military and intelligence command learned about the Hamas attack plan more than a year before the attack on October 7, 2023, journalists from The New York Times found. But Israel’s military leadership deemed the attack plan too complicated to carry out.

Everything is described

The 40-page document, seen by The New York Times and dubbed the Wall of Jericho by Israeli authorities, describes the Hamas attack point by point exactly as it was carried out on October 7: rocket fire and what not enabling Israeli cameras at the border. .with the help of drones, then destroying protective structures and infiltrating militants on paragliders and motorcycles into Israeli territory – and seizing settlements and storming key military bases.

The militants were supposed to cross Israel’s border into the Gaza Strip at 60 points. The description of the attack, as written by The New York Times, began with a quote from the Koran: “Go into the city through the gate. When you enter, you will surely achieve victory.” Hamas has used the same phrase in its videos and statements since October 7. The date of the attack is not indicated in the document, but the plan of the attack itself, as the newspaper notes, was followed by Hamas with astonishing precision.

In addition, the document contains detailed information about the location and strength of Israeli troops, communication centers and more, which, according to The New York Times, raises questions about the possibility of internal leaks. of the Israeli security services.

The newspaper did not specify where and how the attack plan came to Israeli intelligence. The military had received documents about possible attacks and threats from Hamas before, starting in 2016, but they were not very detailed.

The document was distributed to the Israeli military and intelligence leadership, but they felt that Hamas did not have sufficient capabilities for an attack of this scale, The New York Times wrote, citing officials.

Criminal negligence?

Journalists describe how Israeli army leaders ignored warnings of a possible attack at least twice. In the summer of 2022, shortly after receiving the document, representatives of the army unit responsible for protecting the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip decided that it was impossible to assess whether the Hamas plan was fully accepted and whether how to implement it. This is stated in the military report, which was analyzed by journalists from The New York Times.

A second time, in July 2023, a veteran Israeli intelligence official warned that Hamas was conducting exercises similar to those described in the plan. However, the colonel in charge of the unit retracted his words, responding in an email that he categorically denied the possibility of such a scenario. “In general, we will wait patiently,” he wrote.

It is unclear whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other political leaders have seen the document, The New York Times wrote. However, in private conversations with reporters, Israeli officials admitted that if the military had taken the warnings seriously, Israel could have prevented the attack.

The ferocity of the militants’ plan led to it being underestimated, and the belief that Hamas would not attack became so ingrained in the Israeli government that the authorities continued to ignore evidence to the contrary.