Report: Shin Bet fears Oct. 7-style attack on Eilat, despite no intel pointing to such threat

Shin Bet chief David Zini has warned in closed forums about a potential mass attack on the southern city of Eilat resembling the Hamas invasion of October 7, 2023, Haaretz reports, citing several unnamed security sources.

The report says Zini has ordered senior officials in the security agency to give top priority to preparations for a scenario of a large-scale attack on the city coming from Jordanian territory or by sea, deeming the area a security weak spot due to its relative geographic remoteness.

Zini is said to anticipate a coordinated land invasion and attack by several terror groups, including Yemen’s Houthis. He recently visited the city and also voiced concern about Arab Israelis increasingly moving to Eilat, which he views as an attempted “takeover.”

The sources claim to Haaretz that Zini’s concerns are unfounded and that nobody in the Shin Bet knows what intelligence he is basing this on.

The Shin Bet reacts by confirming Zini’s visit to Eilat, during which he “examined various preparations.”

The statement stresses that “there is no information or concrete alert,” but rather “thorough operational planning and studying of the threats on all the fronts the agency deals with.”