A few days before the Hamas attack, Israeli soldiers alerted the authorities

Six months after the start of the war and the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas, Israel’s security failures are coming to light. Lookout soldiers claim to have, among other things, been alerted to suspicious movements.

It was six months ago. On October 7, 2023, Israel woke up to the shock of the images and discovered the extent of the horrors perpetrated by Hamas militias. The security barrier separating Gaza from the Jewish state was unmatched. More seriously, the tacit agreement between Israelis and their leaders, which should have allowed them to live in security since the creation of the state in 1948, has now been broken. While waiting for the Commission of Inquiry to begin work after the war, tongues are loosening. However, the security services did not see anything or, rather, did not want to see anything, some criticize.

Tahlia* was the eye of the Israeli army: “The goal is really to verify that there are no incidents”, on franceinfo’s microphone, referring to the young woman. A few days before the October 7 attack, colleagues based on the edge of Gaza saw, on their screens, strange movements of Hamas troops. They warned without result.

“I get very angry”

“The fact that these warnings were not heeded makes me very angry. It is not common that this was not considered, or that there were such shortcomings. I get very angry. That’s why they didn’t do the right thing.” In French, Talhiya is condemned.

“We give little importance to the words of the lookout soldiers. We are so few soldiers that no one cares. They do not give us any importance, because we are young, we are 18 years old, we are all at the bottom of the army hierarchy.”

Tahlia, an Israeli soldier

at franceinfo

Army, intelligence services, police… key leaders at every level have taken responsibility for their mistakes. “All the evidence was therecites Michael Coby, INSS, professor of military strategy at Israel’s National Security Institute.. The problem is the way the data was analyzed. This is nothing short of an intelligence and operational disaster. This is a significant failure and the first time since the creation of Israel in 1948 that Israeli communities have been occupied. People were killed in their homes. It is a failure for the military and the state who have a duty to protect their citizens.”

And then another big mistake, according to Michael Coby, is the complete reliance on surveillance technology and the physical absence of soldiers that results from it. On October 7, according to the researcher, there were only 200 around Gaza.

*First name has been changed