IDF probe finds it failed to properly respond to Oct. 7 Nir Oz invasion – report
Forces reportedly headed toward southern community in multiple instances, battled with terrorists, were then redirected elsewhere before entering kibbutz
The Israel Defense Forces has found that it failed to properly assess and respond to the terrorist invasion of Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, according to findings published in a report on Saturday.
According to Channel 12, the military found that the Gaza Division failed to understand the situation at the southern kibbutz and did not properly manage forces on the day, sending troops to neighboring communities but not to Nir Oz itself.
The 69-year-old kibbutz, located 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) from Gaza, lost more than a quarter of its 400 members on October 7, with 46 people murdered, including entire families, and 71 people taken hostage. Fourteen Thai citizens who worked at Nir Oz were also murdered that morning.
In one of the major blunders detailed in the Channel 12 report, special forces who were headed to Nir Oz encountered terrorists on the way to the battle, in which an officer was killed at around 11 a.m.
The squadron was then redirected to another task, but the IDF’s Southern Command did not notify the Operations Directorate, so additional forces were not sent.
At 11:30 a.m., Egoz special forces that were dispatched to Kibbutz Kissufim and Nir Oz also encountered terrorists on the way and never arrived at their destination.
The Southern Command did not find out about that incident until 1:30 p.m. Soldiers from the Shayetet 13 special forces unit were then sent but only arrived at 2:20 p.m. By that time, terrorists had managed to murder and kidnap dozens of people.
The October 7 massacre saw some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people in total and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
An IDF probe released earlier this month into the battle on Kibbutz Be’eri, where 101 civilians and 31 security personnel were killed and 32 civilians were taken hostage, found that the military had “failed in its mission to protect the residents,” largely since the IDF had never prepared for such an event.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly shunned calls to establish a state commission of inquiry — the investigative body with the greatest powers by law — for the October 7 onslaught.
He has said investigations must wait until after the fighting ends and has repeatedly avoided committing to forming a state commission. With the war now in its tenth month, pressure has been growing to begin investigating events.
In response, citizens established last week an independent probe into the events of October 7.
