Intel gathered on Oct. 6, 2023, but waved away, indicated Hamas had plans for next morning – report

On October 6, 2023 — less than 24 hours before the deadly Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war — Israel gathered intelligence indicating the terror group was planning something for the following morning, the Kan public broadcaster reveals.

The information came via an intelligence-gathering operation, conducted via drones over the Gaza Strip, focused on the Hamas guards operating in the tunnel where Israel believed hostage Avera Mengistu was being held, the report says.

Mengistu, suffering from mental illness, entered Gaza of his own accord in 2014 and was then arrested and held by the group. He was freed as part of a ceasefire deal in February of this year.

Some piece of information obtained during that operation, though unclear, set off a red flag, and it was passed along to the Israel Defense Forces’ Southern Command, Kan reports.

The broadcaster claims, citing “sources,” that the Southern Command dismissed the intelligence as, in all likelihood, indicative of a Hamas training exercise, rather than an imminent attack.

The October 6 operation does not appear in the IDF’s records, nor has it been mentioned by probes into the events leading up to and during the subsequent terror onslaught, Kan notes, saying the reason for its omission is not clear.

Kan first reported on the intelligence operation earlier this month, but initially cited a source privy to the matter who said it had brought neither an intelligence breakthrough on Mengistu nor any indication of the imminent Hamas attack.