Intelligence Failure Before the Massacre: Dozens of Agents in Gaza Gave No Warning to Shin Bet Before Hamas Attack

A new Shin Bet investigation reveals a troubling picture from the failure of October 7: dozens of agents operating in Gaza did not provide a warning about the Hamas attack, and many of them were found to be insignificant in the organization's network. The intelligence failure is now being examined in depth, while difficult questions arise about the capability of Israeli intelligence in the region.

According to the investigation, revealed last night on Channel 12, most of the agents operated by Shin Bet were not part of the Nukhba force or the senior command of Hamas. They did not know to indicate a terrorist organization's plan of action or report on the location of a senior Hamas figure. Additionally, it turns out that quite a few agents simply misled the Shin Bet and did not convey critical information.

It should be noted that the head of the Shin Bet decided on the night of Simchat Torah to dispatch a rapid response team to the border area – the Tekila team – but it was not enough to stop the attack, signs of which were detected in Israel hours before it began. Most of the team members were killed in exchanges of fire with terrorists in the border area.

The Shin Bet issued a response to the investigation: “We regret the targeted leaks from interested parties who do not know the full picture. Since withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, there has been great difficulty in operating agents remotely in a dense and suspicious area; therefore, the service has developed technological alert mechanisms that alerted the system on the night of 7.10 and provided a warning of unusual Hamas activity. The issue of operating agents is being thoroughly investigated these days.”