Israel Knew of Hamas’ Attack a Year Before Oct. 7: Report

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Israeli officials had initially dismissed Hamas’ plan as overly ambitious, the New York Times reports

A year before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a document detailing plans to carry out the assault circulated among Israeli officials, according to the New York Times.

While the approximately 40-page document reviewed by the Times did not mark a specific attack date, methods of the assault aimed at overwhelming Israeli defenses around the Gaza Strip and plans to storm key military bases and cities were reportedly outlined. The document had been code-named “Jericho Wall” by Israeli authorities, which leaders brushed off as too complex for Hamas to execute, the Times reported.

The plans outlined in the blueprint laid out a plan for an onslaught of rockets, drones intended to incapacitate security cameras and automated machine guns along the border, and gunmen to enter Israel via paragliders, motorcylces, and on foot, per the report. On Oct. 7, these series of attacks in Israel were carried out and led to the death of 1,200 people and the abduction of 200 hostages.

According to the Times, three months before the attack, a veteran analyst with Israel’s signals intelligence agency warned that Hamas had undergone a training exercise similar to what was detailed in the blueprint. However, according to emails viewed by the publication, her concerns were dismissed by a colonel the Gaza division.

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“I utterly refute that the scenario is imaginary,” the analyst wrote in an email. “It is a plan designed to start a war,” she added. “It’s not just a raid on a village.”

Officials privately admitted, per the Times, that had the military considered these warnings seriously and taken steps to fortify the south, Israel could have mitigated or even prevented Hamas’ deadly attack.



Source link: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/israel-hamas-attack-knew-over-year-1234906803/

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