[News] Israeli Gaza Division defeated in 2 hours: Military October 7 probe

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-gaza-division-defeated-in-2-hours--military-october>
Israeli Gaza Division defeated in 2 hours: Military October 7 probe
Al Mayadeen English
February 27, 2025
------------------------------

Israeli investigations into the October 7 attack by Hamas have revealed
major intelligence and military failures, with dozens of Israeli soldiers
killed within hours.
[image: a8068d64-84da-4c1f-89d6-be4fde74bb7b.jpg]

   - Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip
   fence east of Khan Younis southern Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 (AP)

Israeli investigations into October 7's Operation al-Aqsa Flood have
exposed critical failures within the military and intelligence apparatus of
the Israeli occupation, with findings revealing a series of grave
miscalculations, operational lapses, and command breakdowns.

A report by *Yedioth Ahronoth*
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/oct--7-probe-a--severe-underestimation-of-the-enemy---israel>
concluded that Israeli military intelligence suffered from "arrogance and
blindness," failing to anticipate the scale of the attack. The
investigation found that Hamas initially planned to launch the offensive
during Passover in 2023 but postponed it to enhance preparedness.
'Severe underestimation'

In the months leading up to the attack, the Israeli occupation forces'
(IOF) Southern Command assessed that the worst-case scenario would involve
the infiltration of around 70 armed fighters through two points along the
Gaza border. However, reality far exceeded expectations as around 5,000
Hamas fighters breached Israeli defenses
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/new-israeli-probe-reveals-major-failures-in-iron-dome-defens>
.

The military's misjudgment was compounded by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's directive three months before the attack, instructing the IOF
to prioritize threats from Iran, Hezbollah, and the West Bank while
maintaining calm in Gaza. This shift in focus left Israeli forces
unprepared for the unprecedented assault.

Investigations revealed that the Gaza Division collapsed for several hours
during the attack, and this reality was not fully grasped in real-time,
leading to delays in decision-making at the Southern Command and General
Staff levels. The chain of command suffered a "fundamental blow,"
preventing a swift operational response.
Multifaceted attack

The Palestinian Resistance exploited this disarray, launching attacks
through land, air, and sea:

On the ground, around 5,500 Palestinian fighters entered occupied
Palestinian territory in three waves, breaking through 114 crossing points
and advancing via 59 attack routes toward southern and central Israeli
settlements.

On the naval level, seven boats carrying some 50 fighters attempted to
penetrate Israel’s coastal defenses. In the air, Hamas deployed 63
aircraft, including 57 drones and six motorized paragliders, catching
the Israeli
Air Force off guard
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/netanyahu-blocking-inquiry-into-oct-7-failures-amid-pressure>
.

One of the most surprising aspects of the attack was Hamas' use of powered
paragliders to transport fighters into occupied Palestinian territory, a
capability that the Israeli intelligence apparatus had underestimated.
Shin Bet absent from investigations

Despite the military’s ongoing internal probes, the Israeli domestic
security agency, the Shin Bet, is yet to disclose the findings of its own
investigation into the intelligence failures
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-ignored-intel-of-threats-before-oct-7--israeli-media>
.

Recent reports indicate that there had been minimal cooperation by the Shin
Bet with the IOF's investigations, which raised further concerns about
accountability and the accuracy of the probes, as well as any details that
might be missing due to the Shin Bet withholding critical information.
Deafening blow

The Resistance's operation dealt a severe blow to the Israeli occupation
forces within the first few hours, as the Gaza Division was effectively
defeated within two hours. Additionally, most mid-level commanders,
including battalion and company leaders, were killed in the early stages.

On top of the staggering losses, the commanders of three brigades were also
eliminated, making for a total of 157 Israeli soldiers killed in the first
three hours.

Israeli newspaper *Walla! *reported that Hamas targeted the air bases of
the Israeli Air Force with heavy rocket fire, disrupting takeoffs, which
subsequently caused further confusion in terms of the military response.

A separate investigation by *Maariv *described the Israeli occupation
forces' military performance on October 7 as "a historic and unprecedented
failure." A senior Israeli military official admitted, "The investigations
into the events of October 7 do not provide satisfactory explanations."

*Maariv *commented on the report saying the Israeli Gaza Division was
defeated in the first two hours of the war by Hamas.
'Blindness, arrogance'

*Yedioth Ahronoth*'s military analyst Ron Ben-Yishai said earlier in
February that Israeli air defenses had shown "absolute blindness,
arrogance, and an underestimation of the enemy," after October 7
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-government-delays-decision-on-state-inquiry-into-oct>
.

In a recent op-ed, Ben-Yishai cited an investigation revealing that the
Israeli Security Ministry in Kirya did not recognize where the attack was
coming from, rather believing "Israel" was experiencing a multi-front
operation. Therefore, most warplanes were sent to the occupied north to
protect sensitive sites.

The occupied south, on the other hand, was exposed after the security
officials failed to assess the situation, thereby instructing warplanes not
to attack settlements and sites, he added.

Furthermore, the investigation, which includes over a thousand pages of
findings, indicated that the air defenses "were at full efficiency during
the first few minutes of the attack."

According to Ben-Yishai, the preceding political dispute, in which reserve
pilots were involved, did not impact the Air Force's activity. "The failure
stemmed from a different place
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-ignored-intel-of-threats-before-oct-7--israeli-media>,"
he stated.

"The primary failure that prevented the Air Force from fully deploying its
capabilities in the early hours of the attack was the flawed assessment of
the threat by the Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman) and the internal
security agency [Shin Bet], as well as the Air Force’s inadequate
preparedness for the required state of alert," according to Ben-Yishai.
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