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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israeli Gaza Division defeated in 2 hours: Military October 7 probe</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Al Mayadeen English</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">February 27, 2025</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><p>Israeli
investigations into the October 7 attack by Hamas have revealed major
intelligence and military failures, with dozens of Israeli soldiers
killed within hours.</p><img src="cid:ii_m7o334ee0" alt="a8068d64-84da-4c1f-89d6-be4fde74bb7b.jpg" width="446" height="251"><br><div><ul id="gmail-content-slick-0"><div aria-hidden="false"><li>
Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the
Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis southern Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023
(AP)
</li></div></ul>
<p>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.</p>
<p>A report by <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/oct--7-probe-a--severe-underestimation-of-the-enemy---israel" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Yedioth Ahronoth</em></a>
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.</p>
<h2>'Severe underestimation'</h2>
<p>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 <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/new-israeli-probe-reveals-major-failures-in-iron-dome-defens" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Israeli defenses</a>.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<h2>Multifaceted attack</h2>
<p>The Palestinian Resistance exploited this disarray, launching attacks through land, air, and sea:</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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 <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/netanyahu-blocking-inquiry-into-oct-7-failures-amid-pressure" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Israeli Air Force off guard</a>.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<h2>Shin Bet absent from investigations</h2>
<p>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<a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-ignored-intel-of-threats-before-oct-7--israeli-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> intelligence failures</a>.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<h2>Deafening blow</h2>
<p>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, m<span>ost mid-level commanders, including battalion and company leaders, were killed in the early stages.</span></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Israeli newspaper <em>Walla! </em>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.</p>
<p>A separate investigation by <em>Maariv </em>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."</p>
<p><em>Maariv </em>commented on the report saying the Israeli Gaza Division was defeated in the first two hours of the war by Hamas.</p>
<h2>'Blindness, arrogance'</h2>
<p><em>Yedioth Ahronoth</em><span>'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 <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-government-delays-decision-on-state-inquiry-into-oct" target="_blank" rel="noopener">October 7</a>.</span></p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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."</p>
<p>According to Ben-Yishai, the preceding political dispute, in which
reserve pilots were involved, did not impact the Air Force's activity. "<a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-ignored-intel-of-threats-before-oct-7--israeli-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The failure stemmed from a different place</a>," he stated. </p>
<p>"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.</p></div></div></div>
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