Israel’s Intelligence Failure: Ignored Warnings Lead to Hamas Attack
The attack shattered the public's faith in its military and intelligence services, as they had failed to track what one of its main enemies was planning and had ignored multiple warnings that Hamas was preparing a major offensive.
An article in the Financial Times discusses the significant event that took place on October 7, when Hamas launched a large-scale attack on Israel. Despite numerous warnings from various sources, including volunteers monitoring Gaza’s communications networks and Arab media, the Israeli military and intelligence services failed to anticipate the attack.
The paper says Menachem Gida, a communications hobbyist, and his team of volunteers had warned the Israeli military about Hamas fighters conducting war games near the border, but their warnings were dismissed.
Michael Milstein, a former military intelligence officer, had also warned that Israel’s approach to Hamas was not working, but his warnings were largely ignored.
Johan Chairil
The Hamas attack
Noa Melman, a soldier from Israel’s Combat Intelligence Corps, reported that Hamas militants were practising attacks on a mock fence, but her warnings were also ignored.
The question is why were they ignored? Nevertheless, On October 7, more than 1,500 Hamas militants launched a synchronised attack on Israel, knocking out Israel’s border communications with explosive-laden drones, breaching the security barriers with bulldozers, and raiding Israeli territory on motorbikes and paragliders.
The attack shattered Israel’s faith in its military and intelligence services, as they had failed to track what one of its main enemies was planning and had ignored multiple warnings that Hamas was preparing a major offensive.
Massive death rate in Gaza
Since Israel launched its retaliatory campaign, more than 10,500 people have been killed in Gaza.
FT says the Israeli intelligence suffered from a fundamental flaw, underestimating Hamas’s ability to mount such a large-scale operation.
The failure was partly due to a lack of imagination, similar to the case with 9/11, according to Sir Alex Younger, former head of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service.
This event has led to a shift in Israel’s approach towards Hamas, with a more aggressive military campaign being launched to “destroy” Hamas. Now, the other question is how far is Israel's rebuttal of Hamas working? There is very little information that is coming out from the Israelis.
Meanwhile, Hamas successfully destroyed several tanks and units of the advancing Israeli army, based on videos leaked by the Palestinians.