Israeli media: Hamas had detailed intel on IOF Paratrooper Brigade

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
25 Nov 2023 12:36
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Yedioth Ahranoth reports, citing Israeli soldiers in Gaza, that the tunnel network is a lot more different than what they expected.

Israeli occupation soldiers stand besieging Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023 (AP)

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth acknowledged that the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza has garnered sophisticated intelligence capacities in the lead-up to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th.

The military affairs analyst in the newspaper, Yossi Yehoshua, revealed that al-Qassam Brigades had documents in their possession, which included structural details of the Israeli Paratroopers Brigade, as well as its social composition. This included photos of the former brigade commander and other officers who had recently completed their service.

Yehoshua mentioned that these documents were found by a paratroopers intelligence officer in one of the Resistance's sites in Gaza.

As for the tunnel system, which has been a focal point of occupation interest for its importance in granting the Resistance swift maneuvering capabilities over the years, the newspaper described it as "unanticipated".

An officer in the Israeli army reported that the Resistance tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip, those closest to the border with the occupied Palestinian territories, were "deep, long, and operationally different from what the Israeli intelligence estimated."

The Israeli officer stated, "No one imagined that this is what we would find there."

Back in October, John Brennan, former CIA director, described Operation Al-Aqsa Flood as being evidence of an epic Israeli intelligence failure.

"Clearly the Israelis didn't have the either human or technical sources that gave them insight into this. And also, I think it's increasingly apparent now that they misread a lot of the signals that were coming out of Gaza in terms of activities that the Hamas members were engaged in," Brennan said.

Brennan hypothesized that the operation had been planned for several years. Additionally, he remarked that there must have been several "tactical missteps" over the past months that had allowed for the operation to take place.

"This clearly was a failure of epic proportions," Brennan said.