IDF freezes new job for Gaza Division intel officer accused of pre-Oct. 7 failures

After radio report reveals planned appointment, army halts ‘temporary posting’ for Lt. Col. ‘Aleph,’ who reportedly derided warnings ahead of Hamas onslaught as ‘completely imaginary’

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Palestinian terrorists take control of an Israeli tank after crossing the border fence with Israel from Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. (Said Khatib / AFP)
Palestinian terrorists take control of an Israeli tank after crossing the border fence with Israel from Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. (Said Khatib / AFP)

A senior intelligence officer who is believed to have played a key role in the failures that led to the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught had his planned appointment to a new role frozen after a radio report revealed the controversial planned move. The officer reportedly dismissed detailed warnings from an IDF NCO about the looming attack as “completely imaginary.”

Lt. Col. “Aleph” — identified only by his first initial in Hebrew — is the outgoing intelligence officer of the Gaza Division, the Israel Defense Forces division responsible for the Gaza Strip and its border, and was in the position on and before the October 7 terror onslaught.

Army Radio reported on Thursday morning that the Gaza Division intelligence officer was appointed to a position in the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 9900, which specializes in visual intelligence, or VISINT.

Following the report, the military in a statement said that the chief of the IDF Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, had frozen the intelligence officer’s “temporary posting,” and the matter would be discussed after the military’s investigations into October 7 are completed.

Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, took credit for the cancellation, saying he ordered the IDF to hold up the appointment of the intelligence officer “who ignored the warnings of the surveillance soldiers on the eve of October 7.”

“The defense minister also reminds the IDF chief of staff of his directive to avoid any appointment of those who were involved in the events of October 7, and to finish the IDF’s investigations by the end of this month… so that the families and public can be updated, and in order to draw the necessary conclusions, including on the issue of appointments in the IDF,” Katz’s office added.

Defense Minister Israel Katz (center) meets with the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder (right) and other officers at his office for a presentation on two IDF probes into the October 7 onslaught, on December 27, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

In another statement, the IDF said it was “implementing the defense minister’s directive not to appoint officers to positions related to October 7 until the investigations are complete.”

“We clarify that at no point was the officer appointed to the position, but was posted without an appointment, and per the directive of the defense minister and IDF chief of staff, it was halted,” the military added.

The Gaza Division intelligence officer had dismissed warnings by a noncommissioned officer in the signals intelligence Unit 8200 in the days before October 7 that Hamas had a clear plan in place to attack Israel.

The NCO, known as “Vav” — the first Hebrew letter of her name — warned in an email sent to several IDF officers, including Aleph, in the days leading up to the deadly Hamas terror assault that “the sword is coming,” and urged them to “warn the people” while there was still time.

The urgent warning followed the issuance of a dossier put together by Unit 8200 on September 19 — less than three weeks before October 7 — that warned Hamas was training for a large-scale invasion of Israel.

Illustrative: A soldier from the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate works at a computer. (Israel Defense Forces)

The document included an outline of Hamas’s plans for an attack on Israel. It detailed a series of exercises by Hamas’s elite forces who drilled raids on Israeli towns and military posts. The terror group’s operatives were also said to have studied how to hold soldiers and civilians hostage when back inside Gaza, and under what conditions the hostages could be killed.

The plans, dubbed Jericho Wall, were first presented to intelligence officials as a 40-page report more than a year before October 7.

After intelligence officials appeared not to heed the warnings presented on September 19, “Vav” warned in the email that “the training shows us that the ‘Jericho Wall’ plan is an operative, practiced plan, meaning that Hamas already has forces that have practiced these outlines and know how to implement when the order comes.”

The email, sent to the Gaza Division intelligence officer, among others, also warned that due to the apparent imminence of whatever Hamas was planning, Israel’s intelligence would likely not have enough time to “prevent the incident” altogether. Instead, Vav suggested that relevant parties begin “formulating plans for dealing with the incident, should it actually happen, in order to reduce the damage.”

Aleph responded to the email by writing that “the described scenario is completely imaginary,” according to Army Radio.

Palestinians break into Israel from Gaza through the border fence, October 7, 2023. (REUTERS/Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa)

The Jericho Wall plan was actualized on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst through the Gaza border and carried out a deadly assault in southern Israel, slaughtering some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages.

In the months before the onslaught, Aleph was also said to have disregarded warning signs noted by IDF surveillance soldiers as unimportant.

At least three months prior to the attack, surveillance soldiers serving on a base in Nahal Oz reported signs that something unusual was underway at the already-tumultuous Gaza border, situated a kilometer from them.

The activity reported by the soldiers included information on Hamas operatives conducting training sessions multiple times a day, digging holes and placing explosives along the border. According to the accounts of the soldiers, no action was taken by those who received the reports.

IDF asks officers for info to help Oct. 7 probe

On Wednesday, the IDF called on officers who think they have information that may help the military’s investigations into the October 7 onslaught, to come forward before the probes are concluded and presented to the public.

In a letter sent to commanders across the army, the IDF said that it was preparing to conclude the investigations, which began in March 2024 amid the fighting.

The probes will be presented to the political establishment, bereaved families, and the public once they are concluded.

The destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, 2023, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, November 26, 2023 (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

“In this type of process, given the magnitude of the event and the complexity of the circumstances, we may not have been able to obtain all the information required to put the puzzle together in its entirety, and it is even possible that in some cases corrections and additions will be required,” the letter said.

The military said it is “extremely important to reach truthful investigations, to learn and improve from them, and to strengthen trust in the IDF.”

Therefore, the IDF said it is calling on “commanders who believe they can complete and improve the investigations and its results” to contact the relevant officers and provide the information.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Halevi has indicated that he would resign from the IDF once the military concludes its investigations into the October 7 attack. Katz last month ordered Halevi to complete the probes by the end of January, and said that until then he would not approve the appointments of senior officers.

Most Popular
read more: