The IDF reveals the largest-ever Hamas attack tunnel discovered by the military, in the northern Gaza Strip, close to the Erez border crossing. (1/6)
The tunnel, of which around four kilometers were uncovered by the IDF, goes down some 50 meters underground in some areas and appears to be wide enough for vehicles to pass through. It did not enter Israeli territory. (2/6)
One of the shafts was found just 400 meters from the Erez Crossing, which until Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, facilitated the movement of Palestinian civilians into Israel for work and medical care. (3/6)
The IDF says that over the last few weeks, the Combat Engineering Corps’ elite Yahaom unit and Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade used “advanced intelligence and technological means” to uncover the “strategic” tunnel network, scan it, and clear it of any potential threats. (4/6)
The tunnel has several branches and junctions, along with plumbing, electricity, and communication lines, according to the IDF. In some parts of the tunnel, troops found blast doors, which the IDF said were intended to prevent troops from entering. (5/6)
With the announcement, the IDF also publishes footage obtained from the Gaza Strip showing Hamas engineers constructing the tunnel. The footage shows members of the terror group using specialized equipment to dig the tunnel. (6/6)
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The IDF has released its top-level investigations into the military’s failures during the lead-up to the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, and on the day itself.
Some 5,000 Hamas-led terrorists from the Gaza Strip burst into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, carrying out a murderous rampage of unprecedented intensity and breadth. The IDF struggled to mount a response, its own probes now specify, with bases closest to the border overrun and the chain of command broken amid the chaos.
The attack claimed the lives of some 1,200 people in Israel, with another 251 people kidnapped and much of the area devastated. Most victims were civilians.
The material released by the IDF underlines the colossal failure ahead of Hamas’s invasion, in the final hours before and in the course of the terror group’s slaughter and abductions.
The IDF details intelligence material that was insistently misinterpreted over the years; the military’s overreliance on having an early warning to prepare its defenses; the degree to which troops were massively outnumbered by the invading terrorists; and the failure to understand what Hamas was doing during the attack.
The probes at the General Staff level focused on four main topics:
1. The development of the IDF’s perception of Gaza over the past decade
The “perception” probe found that the IDF believed, prior to the October 7 onslaught, that the Hamas terror group in Gaza did not pose a significant threat to Israel, that the group was uninterested in a large-scale war, that its tunnel networks had been significantly degraded, and that any cross-border threat would be thwarted by Israel’s high-tech border fence.
The investigation highlighted a widening gap between the IDF’s perceptions of Hamas, and what the terror group was doing in reality.
2. The IDF’s intelligence assessments of Hamas from 2014 until the outbreak of the war
The “intelligence assessments” investigation found that the Military Intelligence Directorate received information and plans outlining Hamas’s intent to launch a wide-scale attack against Israel over a period of several years, but dismissed the plans as unrealistic and unfeasible.
Instead, the Military Intelligence Directorate falsely assumed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was a pragmatist who was not seeking a major escalation with Israel, and that the terror group viewed its 2021 war with Israel as a failure and was focusing its capabilities on rocket fire, and not a ground invasion.
As part of its investigations into its failures during the lead-up to the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, the IDF has now determined that Hamas had decided in April 2022 to launch such an attack. By September 2022, the terror group was at 85 percent readiness. And it decided in May 2023 to launch the assault on October 7.
Earlier this week, under the cover of darkness and strict security, the IDF took me and other reporters to a massive underground Hezbollah complex in southern Lebanon.
It is the largest Hezbollah tunnel system found by the IDF in southern Lebanon to date, at some 2km long and reaching depths of 40m in some areas.
The IDF believes the underground site was intended by Hezbollah for use as a staging ground, where hundreds of terror operatives would arrive when called, gather equipment, and ready themselves to attack Israeli towns. Hezbollah’s invasion plans never materialized.
Here's all the pictures I took. The nighttime shots are long exposure. In reality, it was pitch black.
The IDF says it has completed its overnight airstrikes against Iranian military sites in response to Iran’s attacks on Israel in recent months, including the 200 ballistic missiles on October 1.
The name of the operation is dubbed by the military “Days of Repentance.”
According to the military, dozens of Israeli Air Force aircraft, including fighter jets, refuelers, and spy planes, participated in the strikes some 1,600 kilometers from Israel. The aircraft safely returned to Israel following the “complex” operation.
The strikes were carried out in several waves over the course of several hours, in various areas of Iran.
The IDF says the strikes targeted Iranian military sites, including air defense batteries and missile manufacturing sites — those used in attacks on Israel on October 1 and April 14.
Additionally, the military says the strikes have given the IAF “wider freedom of aerial action in Iran,” and it has a wide bank of targets that can be struck in future operations, if required.
Medics are responding to reports of at least three wounded in a stabbing incident in the northern city of Karmiel. Further details are not immediately known.
MDA says medics are treating two victims, one of whom is in serious condition.
The stabbing attack took place in a shopping mall in Karmiel.
Two men were wounded, one seriously and the other lightly.
The stabber was "neutralized" at the scene, police say.