New Delhi:
The October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli territories near the Gaza Strip didn’t come out of the blue, Israel’s internal agency has revealed, adding it had warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at least five months in advance about it.
Apart from blaming Netanyahu’s policies among the causes for the attack, which left at least 1,200 Israelis dead, the agency, Shin Bet, also admitted it was aware that the militant group was planning an operation. But the agency failed to anticipate and prepare for the scale, timing or place Hamas was planning to attack.
Ronen Bar, the chief of the agency, also known as General Security Service (GSS), reportedly told Netanyahu that Hamas was a “challenge at its doorstep” and Israel should prepare for “an opening blow” against them, Haaretz reported.
The Israeli Prime Minister, though, had a completely different reading of the situation. He dismissed the intelligence arguing that Hamas was “deterred”.
The eight-page summary of the report, according to The Guardian, also listed the Israeli “policy of quiet” towards Hamas among the reasons for the deadly invasion, attack, killings and hostage-taking.
The Israeli PM’s decision to allow Qatar’s funding in Gaza was also among the reasons leading up to the October 7 attack, Shin Bet said. This policy is aimed at keeping Palestinians divided by boosting Hamas at the cost of the Palestinian state.
Following the publication of the Shin Bet report, the Israeli government came down heavily on agency chief Ronen Bar, saying their conclusions “don’t match the gravity of the immense failure of the agency and its head.”
A statement from Netanyahu’s “circle” said Ronen Bar “completely failed” to counter the Hamas threat in general and “misread the intelligence picture” on October 7, The Times Of Israel reported.
The government also claimed it was the Shin Bet that thought Hamas wanted to keep quiet. It further said that Ronen Bar, apart from recommending civilian concessions to Hamas in exchange for quiet, warned against the group leaders. In an October 3 document, according to the statement, the agency chief wrote Hamas wanted to avoid fighting and looked for stability if Gaza were “given a positive economic horizon”.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump threatened there would be more destruction in Gaza if the remaining hostages were not released. He also issued an ultimatum to Hamas leaders to flee Gaza.
“Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform after meeting freed hostages.
Trump’s warning came days after Israel stopped the entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip.
The prime minister’s office warned of “additional consequences” if Hamas didn’t accept the US’ proposal for an extension of the ceasefire. It was not immediately clear if the supply of aid had been completely halted. The first phase of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire expired on Saturday.