Hamas exploited Israeli oversight, proving Palestinian terror thrives only through deception—not strength or legitimacy.
On the eve of Hamas’s October 7 massacre, Unit 8200 reportedly intercepted a critical weapons-related alert from northern Gaza—but the warning never reached the IDF officials who needed it most, Channel 12 revealed.
According to the investigation, security personnel detected Hamas operatives dismantling storage sites and moving in a distinctly unusual operational pattern. Under established procedures, this kind of intelligence should have triggered an immediate, sector-wide alert.
Instead, the Unit 8200 team chose not to issue a phone warning and sent the alert only via email.
Because the message arrived late Friday afternoon—just before Simchat Torah—the Gaza Division inbox remained unopened. A crucial warning vanished into a digital void.
Throughout that night, additional suspicious indicators appeared. But, lacking awareness of the earlier report, field commanders misread the situation, failing to escalate their alert level.
Channel 12’s report adds that earlier in the week, from Tuesday to Thursday, more intelligence pieces were gathered about Hamas weapons systems. Although assessed as routine at the time, the data collectively pointed to a terror organization preparing for a major operation.
The intelligence officer for the Gaza Division, Lt. Col. A, who was later dismissed by IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, received the information but downgraded it, mislabeling it as a mere Hamas “show of force.” As a result, the data was not included in the division’s situation brief and never reached higher command.
The IDF responded:
“The IDF has conducted in-depth investigations into the events of the morning of October 7 and the night preceding it. Findings were presented to families, the wounded, decision-makers, and the public. Lessons are being implemented across the IDF, including in Unit 8200.”
In hindsight, the overlooked alert represents a chilling example of how procedural failures—not battlefield strength—enabled Hamas’s brutality, exposing the tragic cost of a missed message.
