11:07 p.m. ET, November 30, 2023
Israel was once acutely aware of Hamas’ assault plan over a 12 months in the past, New York Occasions studies
From The Gentleman Report’s Simone McCarthy
Palestinian militants journey an Israeli army car that was once seized by way of gunmen who infiltrated spaces of southern Israel on October 7.
Ahmed Zakot/Reuters
Israeli officers received a file describing Hamas’ struggle plan for its October 7 terror assault greater than a 12 months ahead of the militant staff performed the attack, the New York Occasions reported Thursday, bringing up paperwork, emails and interviews.
The more or less 40-page file didn’t give a date for the assault, however defined “level by way of level” the type of fatal incursion that Hamas performed in Israeli territory in October, consistent with the Occasions, which reviewed the translated file.
Israeli army and intelligence officers brushed aside the plan, assessing that it will be too tough for Hamas to hold out, consistent with the Occasions.
The file, which the Israeli government code-named “Jericho Wall,” detailed an attack that might crush fortifications across the Gaza Strip, take over Israeli towns and goal key army bases. It was once adopted with precision by way of Hamas on October 7, the Occasions mentioned.
On that day, Hamas militants struck around the border from Gaza in a coordinated attack taking greater than 200 hostages and killing round 1,200 folks – the most important such assault on Israel because the nation’s founding in 1948.
The assault was once broadly noticed a big Israeli intelligence failure, with quite a few best protection and safety officers coming ahead in October to take accountability to a point for missteps that resulted in the assaults.
Later that month, Israeli High Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won sharp public grievance after he accused safety chiefs in a later-deleted social media submit of failing to warn him in regards to the coming near near assault.
“To the contrary, the entire protection officers … assessed that Hamas was once deterred,” Netanyahu wrote on the time.
In keeping with the Occasions, the “Jericho Wall” file was once circulated broadly amongst Israeli army and intelligence leaders, nevertheless it was once unclear whether or not Netanyahu or different best political leaders noticed the file.
