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Israeli authorities have confirmed that on the night of 7 October, when one of Hamas’s largest attacks began, a report of suspicious activity on the border with the Gaza Strip was received by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s military secretary. According to the Detaly portal, the signal was received before dawn, but it was decided not to wake the prime minister.
According to Channel 12 commentator Amit Segal, the document on Hamas’s unusual activity was received by leading security agencies, including Military Secretary Netanyahu, as early as 03:30 am. However, given the wording about Hamas’s “normal mode of operation” and the discussions in the morning, the officer decided not to disturb the prime minister.
The outgoing Chief of the General Staff, Herzi Halevi, sharply criticised the situation, saying:
“If the prime minister’s chief of staff were an honest man, he would have told Netanyahu that he knew about the threat last night but did not inform him.”
In response, Netanyahu’s office accused Halevi of “fuelling an unnecessary confrontation” and shifting responsibility. However, it actually confirmed that the signal was received at night, although it stressed that it did not contain clear signs of an imminent attack.
Investigations into the events of 7 October have already revealed large-scale miscalculations by the army and intelligence services. In particular, it turned out that at the time of the attack, the Israeli forces on the border consisted of only 767 soldiers, who were facing more than 5,000 Hamas militants.
In the first hours of the offensive, a crushing blow was dealt: Hamas broke through 77 breaches and 37 gates of the border fence, firing more than 1, 400 rockets, followed by several waves of rocket fire and attacks by drones, paragliders and boats.
Against the backdrop of this attack, there were fears among the military leadership that Hezbollah might join the attack. According to Khalevi, there were thoughts at the time: “If Nasrallah were to attack now, we could see the Radwan unit in Haifa.”
The fear of a second front opening in the north was probably one of the reasons for the delay in moving IDF reinforcements to the south, which proved fatal for many.
As a reminder, on 7 October, Hamas launched a massive attack on southern Israel, killing more than 1 ,200 people, taking more than 200 hostages, and causing critical losses to Israeli forces in the first hours of the attack.
