The IDF decided that Sinwar was a pragmatist because they didn’t take seriously Hamas’ own description of its motives and goals in its charter. That document is quite plain about the movement’s Islamic character and its determination to destroy Israel utterly. But the IDF, like innumerable Western politicians, was sure that “moderate” tendencies would win out such that the charter didn’t need to be taken at face value. October 7 was the result. If the IDF had taken Islam seriously and judged Hamas on its own terms, the massacre could have been prevented.
“IDF’s Oct. 7 probes show it misread Hamas for years, left southern Israel utterly vulnerable,” by Emanuel Fabian, Times of Israel, February 27, 2025:
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday presented 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 for years ahead of Hamas’s invasion, in the final hours before it, and in the course of the terror group’s slaughter and abductions. It was only recognized months after the invasion and slaughter that the military’s Gaza Division, the regional unit responsible for the Strip and for protecting southern Israel, was “defeated” for several hours. The chaos and confusion catastrophically slowed the fightback on the day.
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….
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….
Billy says
The Leftists in Israel, Europe, America, and the West fail to ban Islam, its Mosques, its Schools, etc., and the citizens suffer the terrorism, discrimination, and violence that Muslims do against Non-Muslims. Islam is Criminal, Terrorist Gang Enterprise as taught in Islam’s Quran.
Islam and its Muslims fund, promote, and practice ideological subversion, propaganda, bigotry, discrimination, deceit, supremacy, segregation, hatred, violence, and terrorism as taught in Islamic Law and in Islam’s Quran, and Muslim actions should be legally challenged with a multi-faceted force of Western Laws like Muslims wield against Americans and Westerners. Like a Foreign Terrorist Organization(FTO) designated by the USA Secretary of State, Islam is a MUSLIM TERRORIST ORGANIZATION(MTO) fighting against Non-Muslims and NOT A PEACEFUL religion under Western Law because Islam funds, teaches, and promotes a Terrorist Criminal Organization with Muslims as Terrorists for Allah. Under Islamic Law, Muslims are required to terrorize Non-Muslims because neglecting this Muslim DUTY is a Crime against Allah; Jihad means warfare against Non-Muslims to ESTABLISH ISLAM’S RELIGION(Quran 3:151; 9:29; Muslim Law Manual – “Reliance of the Traveller”, o9.0 and more). More specifically, Islam is a Muslim Terrorist Ideology and Murderous, Criminal Enterprise of intolerance, continuous war, discrimination, segregation, supremacy, genocide, polygamy, propaganda, deceit, hatred, incitement, sedition, rape, terrorism, and violence against all Non-Muslims as taught in the Quran(Quran 2:216; 4:65,89,95; 5:14; 8:12,39,74; 9:5,21,29,36, 41,49,88,111,123; 21:92; 49:15 and more).
Ben says
That is absolutely correct.
OLD GUY says
Absolutely true.
somehistory says
Are they ‘reading hamas’ right now? They have released hundreds of terrorists they had in their prisons.
Will they do that next time? Because as long as any mozlums live, there will be a next time.
Brent Horton says
Let’s call them out properly; Liberals, Democrats, Ideologues, and Appeasers. Israel, aka, The Children of God, are surrounded by Islamic Enemies. Peace Through Strength, Trust, But Always Verify. Liberals refuse to do this, based on their unending stupidity!
Look who attacked in 1948, the Palestinian Fedayeen Insurgency 1950-1960s, the Six Day war in 1967, the War of Attrition 1967-1970, the Yom Kippur War 1973. Palestinian Insurgencies, the War in Lebanon, South Lebanon, 1st Intifada, 2nd Intifada, Hezbollah in 2006, the 1st Gaza War, Gaza 2012, Gaza 2014, the Syrian Civil War, the 2021 Palestinian Crisis. And today.
Who attacked? Putin? Trump? Macron?
No! The Muslims attacked! And it is always them who break the Peace!
somehistory says
Those are the facts in evidence. The jury should be able to render a verdict. But fear of what mozlums will call them, or what mozlums will do…keeps them in deliberation.
abu taleb says
I think most people never imagine how evil Islam is so that it can produce such barbaric people in such big number. But think about this, the most morally subleme person in Islam is a pedophile, womanizer, robber, murderer and slave master altogether in one body. What else can we expect from the lesser people.
libertyORdeath says
Western ignorance and the fantasy world envisioned by leftists is destroying the world.
All the evidence has been right in front of us all along.
libertyORdeath says
What do you get for treating these savages like decent people?
You get accused of a “stand-down,” ethnic cleansing, and genocide.
And over a thousand dead Israelis and dozens more as hostages for years.
Learn the lesson while you still can.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Back in the day – the 90s – Netanyahu used to say that we need to hear what the Palis say – particularly in Arabic – and believe them. Same thing should have been done for Hamas, given what its charter was. It’s good that Israel has cut off all incoming aid to Gaza: it should be besieged and its people – civilian or not – allowed to starve. In fact, this is Ramadan and they’re supposed to fast anyway (let’s forget about the fact that they feast at night), so this is the perfect month to start cutting off food supplies
Also, Israel needs to assume that there are zero survivors and act accordingly. In other words, this ceasefire is done!
Israel must save the Druze says
It wasn’t much, it was more Hamas propaganda.Hamas, Al Qaeda and Daesh boast if they manage to cut off two heads. If the Israelis are smart, they can now hold a referendum and annex the Druze suburbs of Damascus. Maybe Israel can take Damascus and Al Qaeda will rule from Idlib. Why should Al Qaeda have an entire country if it didn’t have one before?
Mo says
“Some 5,000 Hamas-led terrorists”
Dear God, I did not realize it had been that many! Imagine the horror of seeing these demon possessed death cultists coming at you. (When you did see them at all.)
I was going to say this in response to another post the other day and then changed my mind. But I will say it now:
Why is ANY Muslim ever allowed in Israel, at all? Honestly, the question is a fair one. This is a death cult sworn to annihilate Jews “from the River to the Sea.” And, as we know, they are making good on that promise.
Why allow them in the country? There are plenty of large, Muslim majority countries where they could be happy. Why do they have to be in the tiny country of Israel – again, following the death cult they follow?
Am I the only one who finds this insane?