The Israeli government’s national security adviser on Saturday acknowledged “mistakes” by the intelligence services in the run-up to the bloody surprise attacks carried out by Hamas Palestinians in Israel on October 7.
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“It is my mistake, and it reflects the mistakes of all those who make the assessments,” Tzachi Hanegbi, who recently suggested he could not predict Hamas attacks, told an intelligence news conference.
“We really thought Hamas had learned its lesson” from its last major war against Israel in 2021, he added.
Hamas militants entered Israel on October 7 and killed more than 1,300 people, most of them civilians, including children.
AFP
The Israeli army confirmed Saturday that it had identified “more than 120 civilians held captive in Gaza,” including about 150 hostages kidnapped by Hamas, which has threatened to execute them. Hundreds of people are still missing and their bodies are still being identified.
Mr. Hanegbi also rejected any discussion of a prisoner swap with Hamas.
“It is not possible to negotiate with an enemy we have sworn to destroy,” he said.
Retaliatory strikes by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, a small, impoverished, besieged area between Israel and Egypt, reportedly killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, most of them civilians, including 724 children.
AFP