Inaction of IDF on intelligence led to Hamas attack
Prompt response to surveillance reports to senior officials of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) on the visible preparations and simulation of house-to-house hostage taking would have foiled the October 7 Hamas attacks and saved both parties the full fallout of the prevailing Gaza war.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had expressed frustration with the Israeli intelligence agencies over the ease with the Hamas terrorists breached the borders and had a field day with abducting, killing and raping Israeli citizens in their homes, playgrounds and work places.
But spotters working for the IDF who saw Hamas carrying out combat drills, training in hostage-taking and unusual activity by the fence actually alerted their commanders that Hamas was plotting a major terror attack ahead of Oct 7.
Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, is quoted to have revealed in reports which have widely circulated in the media that the male commanders that received the intels ignored female “spotters” who raised the alarm.
According to Haaretz, the male officers ignored warnings from the young surveillance soldiers, whose mission is to closely watch camera footage to spot potential threats.
In a separate report, the Financial Times also found that low-ranking soldiers had seen evidence of Hamas training in hostage-taking and sent the warning up the chain of command. No action was taken, sources told the newspaper.
The spotters tried to warn their bosses that they had seen ample evidence of Hamas planning a huge attack, including combat drills, drone flights and suspicious activity near the border fence. They observed Hamas operatives learning how to shell tanks.
Analysts blamed the dismissal of the reports on sexist misogyny in the ranks of the Israeli force which, according to them, traditionally played down the role of young female soldiers saddled with surveillance duties.
“There’s no doubt that if men had been sitting at those screens, things would look different.”
One female spotter said they noticed that Hamas seemed to be conducting briefings and placing Nukhba units – Hamas’ special forces – near the border in the buildup to the attack.
They passed on that information to senior commanders, but it was not clear whether any further action was taken.
“We reported that it was a briefing by senior [Hamas] officials who we could not recognise. But until today, it’s not clear what [the IDF] did with that information,” said a spotter.
The Haaretz report also alleges that Israeli security chiefs had some indications that an attack was imminent on the morning of the Oct 7 massacre but did not share them with the exposed spotters who would have taken defensive measures to save themselves.
A spotter who gave her name as Yaara said about three hours notice would have been enough time to warn them of the attack. Instead, they were caught unaware by the onslaught and many spotters were part of the soldiers massacred at their posts.
“Nobody thought to tell us,” she said. “The IDF left us like sitting ducks on a range. The fighters at least had weapons and died as heroes. The spotters who had been abandoned by the army were simply slaughtered, without any opportunity to defend themselves.”
Haaretz said it had also interviewed spotters a year ago for a story about their role, and even then the female soldiers had raised concerns that their intelligence reports were not taken seriously by their superiors.
