Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exchanged accusations with the army leadership regarding the content of security risk assessments before the Al-Aqsa flood, while the head of the Israeli National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, confirmed that none of the strategic goals of the war on Gaza had been achieved yet.
The Israeli occupation army announced on Thursday that Netanyahu had received several warnings from military intelligence during the year 2023 regarding the security risks facing Israel, during the internal unrest that occurred as a result of the government’s plan to amend the judicial system.
The Israeli army spokesman said that between March and July 2023, the Intelligence Division sent 4 warning messages explaining how those described as Israel’s enemies in various arenas viewed the damage to the cohesion of the state, and to the army in particular.
These details came in a letter from the Israeli army spokesman to a non-governmental organization that had submitted a request 7 months ago to obtain information regarding these warnings.
Netanyahu denies
For his part, the Israeli Prime Minister issued a statement Thursday afternoon in which he said, “The military establishment’s claim that I was warned before October 7 of a possible attack from Gaza is contrary to the truth.”
Netanyahu added, “The assessments of the security institutions do not indicate any warning of Hamas’ intention to attack Israel, but rather provide the opposite assessment.”
He stressed that “the security services have always claimed that Hamas has been deterred.”
Netanyahu’s office said that a military intelligence assessment in March 2023 indicated that Hamas did not want to attack Israel and was moving toward a settlement.
Another military intelligence assessment in May of the same year recommended reaching a settlement with Hamas, according to Netanyahu’s office.
Recently, criticism has escalated against the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, due to the failure to achieve the war goals they declared, most notably the dismantling of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the recovery of Israeli prisoners in Gaza.
Failure in war
The head of the Israeli National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, said during a session of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in the Knesset yesterday, Wednesday, that Israel had not achieved any of the strategic goals of the war.
Hanegbi explained that Israel did not provide conditions for the prisoner exchange deal, did not eliminate Hamas, and did not create the conditions to return the residents of the Gaza Strip to their homes safely, as he put it.
He pointed out that the Israeli army says that achieving the war goals requires several years, not one year.
He said that the War Council did not specify any clear goal for northern Israel, and did not set a date or strategic goals.
On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian resistance launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in response to the occupation’s attacks against the Palestinian people, the escalation of incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the continued siege of Gaza.
Since then, the Israeli army has launched what international experts describe as a war of extermination against the Palestinians in Gaza, where tens of thousands were martyred and wounded – most of them children and women – and nearly 70% of the civilian infrastructure, including homes, schools and hospitals, was destroyed.
Source : Tel Aviv Tribune + Agencies + Israeli press