Israeli colonel says poor intelligence and political interference led to Hamas attack

A serving Israeli colonel has told Middle East Eye’s Levent Kemal that bad intelligence and political interference led to Hamas being able to launch an air, sea and land assault into southern Israel from Gaza.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the colonel said Israel had knowledge that Hamas was preparing for an attack but did not anticipate when that would take place.

“This information was evaluated incorrectly. In particular, counterterrorism intelligence units thought that all these weapons used in this attack would be separately put in action in different attacks,” he said.

“They could not make the assessment that kamikaze drones and their motorised parachutes, missiles and mini drones would be used for a single all-out attack. Although I don't like to call this a weakness, intelligence made a huge mistake.”

Commenting on the situation, the colonel said relative calm in Gaza had created “indiscipline” within troops serving the border.

“There is no logical explanation I can give to explain the sudden overrun of Israeli towns,” he said. “Maybe you should ask the government, which constantly interferes with the military.”

The colonel added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have to attack Gaza with all his might since, politically, he has no other choice.

“It will take us at least ten years to clean up this mess,” he said.

“And for that to happen, Gaza should not cause us any major problems during that time. What to do for this is very clear: a major land and air operation. There is no other option.”