A new report shows that Israeli forces had knowledge of Hamas plans to attack and take hostages before 7 October, amid a series of intelligence failings

The Israeli military had advanced notice about a plan by Hamas to raid southern Israel including accurate predictions about the number of hostages the group would seize, a new report has found.

The internal report shared with Gaza Division commanders, entitled ‘Detailed raid training from end to end’, was released on 19 September and found that Hamas fighters had been training for a huge assault on Israel, a warning that was ignored by officers, Israeli broadcaster Kan reported.

Three weeks later, Hamas and its allies launched a series of assaults into southern Israel, killing 1,190 Israelis and taking 251 captives back to Gaza, sparking a brutal Israeli war on the Palestinian enclave that has seen more than 37,000 people killed.

“I feel like crying, yelling and swearing,” one of the authors of the report said about the ignored warnings, according to Kan.

October 7 was almost a mirror of how the report warned an assault would play out, even predicting the number of hostages who would be seized by Hamas at between 200 and 250, while detailing how its fighters from its elite units would assault military posts and towns.

The 7 October events remains a hugely sensitive issue in Israel with demands for commanders and politicians to step down due to the collapse of the southern front on that day.

Israel’s High Court issued an injunction on Sunday to suspend an investigation by State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman into the military and Shin Bet over alleged failings that led to Hamas’s surprise attack on 7 October.

  • massive_bereavement@fedia.io
    3·
    5 months ago

    The ties between Russia and Hamas are well documented: (from wikipedia cuz I’m lazy)

    During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Russia condemned both the initial Hamas attack and Israel’s response. Russia maintained relations with both parties and presented itself as a potential mediator.

    After the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, which initiated the war, Russia condemned the attack as “terrorism”. Putin sent condolences to the families of the killed Israelis and said Israel had a right to defend itself, describing the Hamas attack as “unprecedented in its cruelty”. He also condemned the subsequent Israeli bombardments of Gaza and called for a two-state solution to resolve the conflict. Russian UN diplomats later condemned both the Hamas attack on Israel and Israeli shelling of civilian neighborhoods in Gaza. However, Russia voted against a resolution condemning Hamas at the United Nations General Assembly.

    Some commentators said that Russia has grown closer to Hamas and more hostile to Israel. According to The New York Times, Russian state media and leading social networking platforms spread support for Hamas and denigrated Israel and its main ally, the U.S. Putin has said that the war shows “a clear example of the failure of U.S. policy in the Middle East”. On 14 October, Hamas thanked Putin for his “position regarding the ongoing Zionist aggression against our people.” On 26 October, Moscow hosted a Hamas political delegation, led by Mousa Abu Marzook, which Israel condemned as “a reprehensible step that gives support to terrorism and legitimacy to the horrific acts of Hamas terrorists.” Amid the war’s hostage crisis, Hamas released kidnapped Russian-Israeli dual nationals. Hamas described these actions as a gesture of appreciation for Russia’s support for the Palestinian cause.

    In December 2023, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Israel’s stated goals in its invasion of Gaza were similar to Russia’s stated goals in its invasion of Ukraine.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia–Hamas_relations