Israeli officials told the BBC that a major investigation is being launched as to how Israeli intelligence failed to anticipate the Hamas attacks.
Israel was rocked by a wave of unprecedented attacks carried out by Hamas fighters on Saturday, with reports of thousands of rockets being fired into the country and gunmen roaming the streets.
Observers have noted that Israel’s failure to anticipate the attack, which likely took months of complex planning, is a failure of their famously sophisticated intelligence agencies.
“All of Israel is asking itself: Where is the IDF, where is the police, where is the security?” Eli Maron, the former head of the Israeli Navy, said on news, per The Times of Israel.
“It’s a colossal failure; the hierarchies have simply failed, with vast consequences.”
Israel is reputed to have one of the most sophisticated intelligence networks in the Middle East, comprising several key agencies and informats embedded in militant groups across the region, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said.
He said that Hamas being able to carry out these coordinated attacks “seemingly in total secrecy” suggests that Israel was “caught asleep at the wheel.”
Israeli government officials told Gardner that a major investigation is being launched as to how Israeli intelligence failed to anticipate the attack, with one saying the investigation could go on for years.
