Even as doubts are raised about the apparent intelligence failure of Israel, a senior Egyptian intelligence officer claims that the country’s security agencies downplayed Cairo’s numerous “warnings” about Hamas’s imminent strike.
According to the insider, whose identity has not been revealed, Israeli officials were focused on the West Bank and dismissed the warning that “something big” was being plotted from Gaza.
The bulk of supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in the West Bank were Jewish settlers. For the past 18 months, they have urged the government to address escalating tensions in the region.
Egypt, which has typically served as a go-between for Israel and Hamas, had warned Israel of the threat several times, the person said, adding, “but they underestimated.”
“We have warned them an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon, and it would be big. But they underestimated such warnings,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying.
Israel reacts
The Prime Minister’s Office in Israel, on the other hand, firmly denounced the official’s assertions as “completely false news.”
“The report to the effect that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a message in advance from Egypt is absolutely false,” the prime minister’s office tweeted.
“No message in advance has arrived from Egypt and the Prime Minister has neither spoken, nor met, with the head of Egyptian intelligence since the formation of the government, neither directly nor indirectly.”
This discovery comes at a time when Israeli security forces are scrambling to crack down on the Hamas terror organization after being taken off guard by strikes.
The media is looking for answers
Several local media outlets have also questioned security officials’ apparent failure to predict the terror strikes.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, neither the Israeli Defense Force nor the Israel Security Agency, also known as the Shin Bet, issued any warnings that the terrorist organization was ready to launch the attack.
According to the outlet, senior IDF and defense ministry officials openly stated last week that Hamas was not interested in open conflict.
“This is a major failure,” said Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Netanyahu.
“This operation actually proves that the (Israeli intelligence) abilities in Gaza were no good.”
