from Jerusalem Post June 17 2024
...
These exercises included raiding military posts and kibbutzim
(collective communities in Israel), kidnapping soldiers and civilians,
and maintaining the hostages once they were in the Gaza Strip.
The
report by Kan News stated, "Security sources told Kan News that the
document was known to the intelligence leadership, at the very least in
the Gaza Division."
...
The IDF had precise information about Hamas's intentions, but due to
prevailing conceptions within the security establishment and possible
negligence by senior officials, the warning signs were not acted upon.
The
report further detailed that Israeli intelligence officials monitored
the exercise and documented the steps Hamas planned to take after
breaching Israeli territory and taking over military posts. The expected
number of hostages, according to the document, was between 200 and 250
people.
"Israeli
intelligence officials who monitored the exercise detailed in the
document the next steps after breaching into Israel and taking over the
posts, determining that the instruction is to hand over the captured
soldiers to the company commanders. The expected number of hostages, it
states, is between 200 and 250 people," Kan News reported.
This
information, combined with a new and sophisticated security barrier
completed two years before the attack, was believed to have made such an
assault improbable. However, the barrier failed during the Hamas
attack, highlighting a significant intelligence and security oversight.
The
general staff investigation team is expected to present initial
findings from this failure to the Chief of Staff in the coming weeks, as
the country seeks to understand how such a lapse in security could
occur despite having detailed advance knowledge of the enemy's plans...
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