There are rising concerns for defense leaders as Israel suffered from a devastating strike by Hamas terrorists who breached boundaries surrounding Gaza and wandered at liberty, murdering dozens of people in Israeli communities.
Reuters reported that on the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the Israeli military appeared to have been taken off guard once again by an unexpected strike.
Retired Israeli National Security Council chief General Giora Eiland noted, "It looks quite similar to what happened at that time." According to his statement in a meeting with the media, Israel was surprised by a well-coordinated strike.
A military spokesperson has said that conversations on intelligence preparation would take place in the future; however, the focus right now is on combat operations. He told reporters at a briefing that the issue will be discussed when it needs to be discussed.
Israel-Hamas Conflict
Israel has always seen Hamas as an acknowledged adversary, but since inflicting major damage on Gaza during a 10-day war in 2021, the country has used a combination of bribes and threats to keep the blockaded enclave peaceful. A strict ban and the continual threat of air attacks were maintained, but economic incentives, such as thousands of work permits, were granted to Gazans so that they might find employment in Israel or the occupied West Bank.
While violence has raged in the West Bank for the last 18 months, it has been relatively peaceful in Gaza, with the exception of occasional cross-border fights between members of the smaller Islamic Jihad organization and Hamas.
The right-wing administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long made a big deal about its security credentials and adopted an unyielding stance against the Palestinian terrorist organizations, especially Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
'An Intelligence Failure'
Israel's defenses seemed to collapse when Hamas soldiers, numbering in the hundreds, breached the perimeter and dispersed among the cities.
Former US government deputy national intelligence officer for the Middle East and current member of the Atlantic Council think tank Jonathan Panikoff said, "This was an intelligence failure; it could not be otherwise." He added it constituted a security breach that undermined Israel's forceful and effective layered strategy against Gaza.
Photos and videos from Gaza, showing citizens being dragged or marched into detention or lying dead on the streets, shocked Israelis to their core.
An unprecedented number of Israelis, over 250, were murdered, and over 1,500 were injured in a single day. Palestinian terrorist organizations claimed to have seized scores of troops and that the military had suffered heavy casualties.
