A senior Israeli official admitted on Saturday that there had been mistakes in the intelligence services’ assessments prior to an unprecedented attack launched by Hamas on Israel on October 7.
Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said in a press briefing in response to a question about his statements about not expecting Hamas to launch an attack, “It’s my mistake, and it reflects the mistakes of everyone who makes these intelligence assessments”.
He added, “We really believed that Hamas had learned its lesson from the last war with Israel in 2021”.
On October 7, Hamas launched Operation al Aqsa Flood, during which its fighters penetrated Israeli areas from the sea via boats, from land by penetrating parts of the barbed wire border fence, and from the air via automated gliders, in conjunction with the firing of thousands of rockets toward Israel.
They entered military sites and residential complexes, killed people and captured others.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Israel, most of them civilians, since the start of the attack, including 258 soldiers, according to the army’s latest toll.
The number of wounded has reached 3,526, and the number of hostages taken by Hamas has reached about 120.
Hanegbi rejected any negotiations that would lead to a prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas.
“There is no way to negotiate with an enemy we have sworn to eliminate,” he said.
