Hamas breaking through the Gaza border fence on October 7.   Credit: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu Agency via Reuters Conne

"At 11:00 a.m. several companies were observed gathering for prayer and lunch before the start of training."

"At noon, equipment and weapons are distributed to the fighters, after which a company headquarters drill takes place."

"At 2:00 p.m., the raid practice begins."

IDF Gaza Division document

Hamas terrorists near Kibbutz Nir Oz during the massacre on October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Eslaiah)

How could it conceivably be even remotely possible that the vaunted, admired, professional intelligence services that exemplify Israel's readiness at all times to defend itself, to provide security and assurance to its population could have deteriorated to this degree? Or was it always a brash mirage? Is it possible for human agencies to rely on their humint to the extent that Israel always has, allied with the courage of its military to respond to threats with alacrity and reliability only to fall from grace in this most humiliating way? 

A failure to respond, to take their mission seriously enough to prevent the mass murder of its citizens, the mass rape of its children and women, the unspeakable torment? The evidence appears incontrovertible. The failure monumental. Does that old executive office declaration of Truman's that 'the buck stops here' apply in all situations? 

Is not the holder of the supreme position of prime minister of a democratic nation responsible for the failures of the agencies tasked to support the government and those whose well-being is in its hands? This is a nation comprised of people with a common ethnic background sharing a common goal and prepared to reach that goal in a unison of purpose. Any enterprise, no matter how grave and existential, however, must deal with the differences in human nature and perceptions, and where Jews are concerned a propensity to argue the details.

A live-fire exercise dubbed operation “Strong Pillar” outside Al-Mawasi, a town on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip, on September 12, 2023. (Hamas via AP)

 

The shocking revelations made public in the long aftermath of the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas operatives alongside those of the PLFP, PIJ and ordinary Palestinian civilians, are not new; bits and pieces of personal testimony emerged soon after the catastrophe that befell the kibbutzim of southern Israel and the Nova Music Festival. The failure of intelligence services to give credence to reports from soldiers monitoring Gaza from their border emplacements where it was clear that something sinister was afoot, yet those warning of potential trouble were ignored.

Now it is revealed through a document produced by the Gaza Division of the IDF that mere weeks prior to October 7, warning was given that terrorist Hamas was preparing a large-scale invasion of Israel, in the process of training its operatives to swoop into southern Israel for a savagely sadistic manoeuvre that would strike terror into the hearts of Jews in the thoroughness of its psychopathic will to slaughter and destroy. Although the marauders were equipped with video cameras and were proud to circulate live videos of their depraved torture of helpless women as they were raped and murdered as instructed, Hamas denies it all. Then justifies it.

The document entitled "Detailed raid training from end to end" fully explaining preparations for the oncoming disaster to befall southern Israel's farming communities was circulated within Israel's intelligence community on September 19, brought to the attention of senior intelligence, all of whom, it would seem, ignored the warning based on information from Military Intelligence Unit 8200. Even the number of hostages to be seized was estimated at between 200 to 250, accurate to the actual numbers that were abducted on that fateful October 7 which saw 1,200 Israeli citizens and soldiers depart life.

 

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers of the 36th Ga’ash Division’s formation conduct combat operations in the Gaza Strip. The unit claims to have successfully eliminated many Hamas fighters and aircraft and to have destroyed Hamas infrastructure, including munitions warehouses, munitions production sites, an antitank launch site, and antitank missile launch sites. (Photo courtesy of the IDF)

The series of exercises carried out by the Palestinian elite forces included drilling for raids on Israeli towns and military posts, along with workshops on how soldiers and civilian hostages were to be secured within Gaza. Not overlooked was what circumstances would prompt their killings. Mock Israel Defense Forces outposts were simulated on bases on the border with Gaza as Hamas commandos practised infiltrating the outposts to which four companies were assigned a different outpost each.

 

Maps were provided identifying areas within the bases and the kibbutzim targeted by the commandos; control rooms, synagogues, and living quarters. The Hamas Nukhba forces were tasked not to leave those documents behind following base raiding. Hostages were not to have telephones with them, and terrorists were forbidden from informing hostage families of their condition; should it become evident their locations were known to Israel, the hostages were to be moved to prevent their rescue. Just as the hostages were threatened with death should they attempt to escape. 

 

 

Government and military leaders both contend they had no warning of an imminent invasion. The initial scenario planned by Hamas was for dozens of terrorists to breach the border in three areas. In actual fact, an estimated 3,000 terrorists entered Israel through 30 breaches of the border fence during the onslaught. One of the report's authors wrote: "I feel like crying, yelling and swearing", and well  he might.