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On 27 March 2025, Israel’s State Comptroller Matatagi Engelman and IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir signed an agreement to launch a large-scale review of key aspects of the events of 7 October 2023, the tragic Black Saturday, when Hamas militants attacked the country, causing hundreds of casualties. This was reported by the State Comptroller’s Office, stressing that the investigation will also address the preconditions for this catastrophe in the activities of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
A long way to the truth
The agreement is a logical extension of the agreements reached in November 2024. Since then, the IDF has conducted numerous internal investigations, which have already covered about 70 per cent of the issues related to the events of that day. The new stage will see Engelman’s office gain access to the internal investigations and reports of the army, which are due to be handed over by the end of April 2025. The review will take into account the operational needs of the IDF and the difficult security situation that persists amid the war with Hamas and tensions with other neighbours.
What exactly will they check?
The State Comptroller will focus on several key areas that have already sparked heated debate in Israeli society:
- The Nova Music Festival: how permits were issued, whether proper preparations were made and whether security measures were in place for the event, which was one of the main targets of the 7 October attack.
- Protection of settlements: the effectiveness of local security forces and rapid response units (kitot konenut), which were supposed to be the first to repel the attack.
- Protecting the border with the Gaza Strip: why the defence system was vulnerable to militants’ breakthrough.
- Intelligence work: whether there were any miscalculations in the threat assessment before the attack.
- Timeline of events on 7 October: a detailed analysis of the IDF’s actions during the attack.
These topics have long been the subject of heated debate in Israel, where society demands answers to the question: how did one of the world’s strongest armies fail to prevent the tragedy?
Why is this important?
The events of Black Saturday, 7 October 2023, became the bloodiest day in the history of modern Israel: Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people, including civilians at the Nova festival, and kidnapped more than 200 hostages. The attack exposed systemic failures in the country’s defence system, leading to a wave of criticism against the army, government and intelligence services. In response, the IDF launched a large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip, which is still ongoing, but the internal investigation remained a sensitive issue due to the war and political instability.
The agreement between Engelmann and Zamir shows that the authorities are finally ready to investigate the causes of the disaster. “We are committed to transparency, but with the army now engaged in combat operations,” the state controller’s office said, hinting at the sensitivity of the process.
What’s next?
The transfer of documents by the end of April will be only the first step. After that, Engelman’s team will conduct an analysis that will likely culminate in the publication of a report in late 2025 or early 2026. The document could have far-reaching implications, from personnel changes in the IDF to political upheaval in a country where Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is already under pressure over security failures.
As Israel continues to fight on external fronts, an internal investigation promises to shed light on what went wrong on that fateful day. The public is waiting for answers, and it appears that the wait will not be long.
