Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 26, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 26, 2024
Only 600 Israeli soldiers were guarding Gaza border on October 7 — report
A picture taken by Hassan Eslaiah shows Palestinians celebrating by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis, October 7, 2023. (AP)
There were only some 600 IDF soldiers deployed in the Gaza border area when the invading Hamas terrorists burst into Israel, according to initial findings of an IDF investigation into the events of October 7, Channel 12 reports.
The report comes at the same time as continued questions about the failures to stop the assault that saw some 3,000 terrorists cross into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 253 hostages.
The report says the IDF forces were quickly overwhelmed. It notes that the military had recently drilled for a Hamas invasion, but on a much smaller scale.
The report says the military had practiced repelling a Hamas assault along two routes. The actual attack took place at 60 different points.
