Israel Was Aware of Hamas Planning Attack: Leaked Document
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Hashim Sheikh
- . December 4, 2023
- . Update: December 4, 2023 6:14 pm
Alarming reports have surfaced that Israel was very much aware about Hamas planning and preparing a major terror attack well in advance, more than a year. Israeli intelligence had Hamas’ 40-page battle plan for the attacks, but brushed it off as unrealistic.
Codenamed Jericho Wall, the leaked document highlighted plans – gliders to enter Israel from Gaza, automatic machine guns on the border and the use of drones to eliminate security cameras. And these methods were used by the Gaza-based militant group Hamas on October 7, taking the Israeli government and the armed forces off guard, killing and kidnapping of civilians in Kibbutzim.
Ron Dermer, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs, said they will get to the bottom of this “after the war”. He added that he had not been aware of the intelligence about Hamas’ plans until it surfaced in The New York Times report last week.
Too Good to be True: Israel
The Israel army’s Gaza division, according to the report, concluded that Hamas had a plan, a new raid, unprecedented in its scope, and a large-scale manoeuvre inside Israeli territory. The leaked document Jericho Wall also quoted the Quran verse “Surprise the through the gate. If you do, you will certainly prevail”.
Israeli spies were also aware about Hamas’ planned attack and tried to warn the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government. But it is unknown which Israeli politicians were informed or warned about the attack. Israel army’s Gaza division took Hamas’ plans as a compass and imaginative. They said it was an ideal-world scenario for the militant group, rather than a realistic possibility.
Israel army and intelligence may have brushed off Jericho Wall as Hamas’ day dream, but it turned into a nightmare as the plan was followed shockingly with precision. Army officials and political analysts, who went through the leaked document, believe the war could have been prevented.
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John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesman, said the US intelligence community is taking a look into Jericho Wall. He said the US intelligence community had no indications or knowledge of Hamas planning beforehand.
In regards to Israel, the spokesman highlighted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had admitted they had been intelligence failure. “They’ll do the forensics. They’ll do that and they’ll do it thoroughly. But right now, certainly on intelligence, the focus has got to be on making sure that Israel has what it needs to go after Hamas leadership.”
