Report: Probe of Military Intelligence role in Oct. 7 failure finds Hamas planned assault for 7 years

An ongoing probe into the role of the IDF’s Military Intelligence in the failures leading up to the October 7 Hamas surprise assault has found that the terror group had been planning the operation for over seven years, Channel 12 reports.

The internal probe, which has not been finalized nor officially presented to the IDF chief of staff, is looking at how intelligence missed the warning signs of Hamas’s impending attack for so long.

According to the leaked conclusions, Military Intelligence was convinced that Hamas was deterred from a major confrontation with Israel and that the terror group’s leader Yahya Sinwar was interested in an agreement with Israel that would improve the economic situation in Gaza and entrench his control over the Strip.

Analysts had concluded that Hamas “is not seeking and does not have the ability” to go to war with Israel, Channel 12 reports.

They also completely disregarded the possibility that Hamas sitting out the previous round of fighting with Islamic Jihad could be interpreted as anything other than a sign it did not want war.

The report also says that the IDF cannot yet conclude that it now knows how to prevent similar lapses from occurring in the future.

Outgoing chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, has received the report.

In response to the report, the IDF says that, “When the investigations are completed they will be presented in a transparent way to the public.”