Israeli intelligence services obtained plans for the deadly Oct. 7 attack more than a year before it was carried out, The New York Times reported.
Hamas carried out the deadly terrorist attack on multiple locations in southern Israel Oct. 7, killing over 1,400 people, including at least 30 Americans. Israeli military and intelligence officials viewed the plans, which they named “Jericho Wall,” as being aspirational, according to The New York Times.
In July, an analyst with Unit 8200 noted a training exercise observed by senior leaders of the radical Islamic terrorist group, warning that it bore similarities to the “Jericho Wall” plans, the Times reported. A senior officer praised the analyst but said the exercise featured a “totally imaginative” situation, prompting the analyst to remind him and others of the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
The plans obtained by Israeli intelligence had marked similarities to what occurred during the Oct. 7 attack, including the use of paragliders, a massed rocket attack and the use of drones to disable border defenses, including sensors and remote-controlled defensive positions, The New York Times reported.
“We already underwent a similar experience 50 years ago on the southern front in connection with a scenario that seemed imaginary, and history may repeat itself if we are not careful,” the analyst wrote.
“The Israeli intelligence failure on Oct. 7 is sounding more and more like our 9/11,” retired CIA official Ted Singer told The New York Times. “The failure will be a gap in analysis to paint a convincing picture to military and political leadership that Hamas had the intention to launch the attack when it did.”
Hamas had also increased its force of fighters to 27,000, according to a September 2016 memo provided to The New York Times, with a goal of reaching 40,000 by 2020.
Israel agreed to extend a ceasefire with the radical Islamic terrorist group after multiple groups of hostages were released since Friday. Hamas gunmen killed three Israelis and wounded 16 in Jerusalem Thursday before they were stopped by off-duty soldiers and armed citizens.
Harold Hutchison on November 30, 2023
