The Israeli army released its findings on Thursday after months of investigations into the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, admitting to a “colossal failure” in anticipating the “Al-Aqsa Flood Operation” launched by the Palestinian resistance group.
The investigation report said the military was unprepared for the attack, having been caught off guard by the number of Palestinian fighters who breached military bases and settlements near Gaza, according to Israeli Army Radio.
The findings also revealed that the army was surprised by the speed and coordination of the attack, which exceeded all expectations.
Doron Kadosh, the military correspondent for Israeli Army Radio, reported that the army admitted it had not considered the possibility of a large-scale surprise attack like the one on Oct. 7.
Kadosh wrote on his X that a threat of such an attack was never taken seriously or even considered, which left the army unprepared to counter it.
The investigation findings confirmed that Hamas fighters completely overran the Israeli army’s Gaza Division for several hours, specifically between 6:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
During this time, the Israeli military had no control over the area near Gaza. It took around 10 hours for the army to regain operational control over the region, which Hamas had effectively seized.
According to Army Radio, the findings exposed the army’s reliance on flawed strategic assumptions, including the belief that “Gaza posed a secondary threat that did not require significant military attention and that Hamas was deterred and focused on maintaining calm for economic benefits.”
The investigation further concluded that the army allowed “a severe security threat to develop along its borders by over-relying on the defensive barrier while significantly weakening border defense forces, including a shortage of troops in areas near Gaza.”
Additionally, the findings pointed to a sense of “arrogance” within the army and “overconfidence” in its intelligence superiority, with a firm belief that any potential Palestinian attack would be preceded by an intelligence warning.
“There was no one who saw or detected any sign of this event in advance, not even at the lowest intelligence level,” one of the central investigations found.
However, the lack of such a warning caused a major shock to military leadership and contributed to the chaos of the attack’s initial hours.
Several Israeli political, military, and security officials have previously admitted to personal responsibility for the failure to prevent the Oct. 7 attack.
As a result, some officials resigned, most notably Aharon Haliva, chief of the army’s Military Intelligence Directorate.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday criticized the Israeli army for not sending him the findings of the investigations.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Netanyahu’s office sent a letter to the Ministry of Defense demanding an explanation for why the army had not submitted its investigation findings on Oct. 7.
However, Netanyahu has so far refused to take any responsibility for the attack or to establish an official investigation committee into the events of that day.
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect on Jan. 19, pausing the Israeli war that has killed more than 48,300 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Syrian political analysts are warning that Israel is seeking to export its internal crises to Syria, following its military failure in the Al-Aqsa Flood battle in Gaza. They add Tel Aviv wants to fuel regional tensions to divert attention from its worsening internal crisis.
Weakening Syria to unite the Israelis
Member of the Syrian National Dialogue Conference Abdul Nasser Hawshan believes the recent Israeli escalation “aims to prevent the establishment of a strong Syrian state and destabilize the region,” adding the Israeli occupation government is trying to unite the Israelis behind it to escape the increasing internal and international pressures it is facing.
Hawshan told Quds Press, the recent National Dialogue Conference held in in country witnessed a national consensus on the unity and independence of Syria, and the rejected partition projects as espoused by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). He described such a project as a “separatist” one that “serves the Israeli agenda.”
He also pointed out that the Israeli incursions into southern Syria came “in response to this popular rejection of foreign plans.”
Druze position and rejection of Israeli intervention
Regarding the Druze community’s position in these developments, Hawshan explained that “some Druze leaders have adopted a discourse in line with the Israeli proposal,” but he stressed they “do not represent the Druze sect in general, which rejects any foreign intervention in Syrian affairs.”
He also denied the possibility of establishing the so-called Daoud Crossing, which links Israel to the areas under the control of the SDF, stressing “this project will not succeed under any circumstances.”
Irksome Turkey-Israel ties over the SDF
Political analyst Adel Hanif Daoud believes Israel is trying to exploit regional tensions to strengthen its position as an effective force, despite its escalating political and military crisis.
But Daoud warned that “any Israeli attempt to link the Druze and the SDF through the Tanf crossing could lead to an inevitable military confrontation with Turkey.” He noted Ankara considers the “Syrian Democratic Forces” a direct threat to its territorial integrity, and may resort to large-scale military intervention even if that leads to an international conflict.
He added the Druze leadership is divided between those who support Israel and those who are loyal to Damascus, but he expected that Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt would intervene to pressure the Druze community to reject the Israeli project.
As for the Turkish position, Daoud indicated that Ankara, as a member of NATO, has many political tools that it can use before resorting to the military option.
Military escalation in southern Syria
These warnings come in light of the escalation of Israeli military violations in southern Syria, as the occupation forces have intensified their airstrikes on sites in the Damascus countryside and Quneitra in recent weeks, targeting military and civilian infrastructure. Unprecedented Israeli military movements were also monitored along the occupied Golan Heights, amid reports of limited ground incursions.
In this context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu escalated his rhetoric, stressing that his army would not allow the Syrian army or its allied forces to enter southern Syria, stressing Tel Aviv would not back down from its control of Mount Hermon, considering it a “strategic part of Israel’s national security.”
Damascus rejects Israeli aggression
For his part, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa stressed his categorical rejection of these attacks, considering them a threat to regional security and a continuation of the policies of aggression against Syria’s sovereignty.
In light of this escalation, Syria continues to defend its sovereignty and rights, while calls are increasing for the international community to act to stop Israeli violations, amid growing complications that threaten the stability of the entire region.
The physical and mental health conditions of the Palestinian detainees and prisoners released during the seventh round of the ceasefire exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip are shocking.
Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, who arrived in the Gaza Strip recently in exceptionally poor health, illustrates its ongoing use of torture to terrorise and persecute prisoners and detainees and break their will until the very end of their detention. The effects of torture were clearly evident, with the emaciated bodies of the released individuals reflecting the severity of systematic crimes and inhumane treatment that exceed all legal and moral bounds.
The repeated release of such visibly unhealthy individuals from Israeli prisons reveals that the heinous torture and willful medical neglect they endure have escalated to appalling levels. Euro-Med Monitor notes that the atrocities occurring in these prisons are among the worst violations recorded by human rights organisations worldwide.
In a blatant violation of the mandatory rules of international law—which forbid torture in all its forms and under all circumstances, without exception, and consider its commission an international crime that does not expire by statute of limitations—hundreds of released prisoners and detainees arrived in the Gaza Strip after midnight in exceptionally poor health. It became evident after their transfer to the Gaza European Hospital in the southern section of the Strip that dozens of them required urgent medical care because their bodies showed signs of torture and inhumane treatment, including deprivation of necessary medical care and treatment.
Along with severe weakness and exhaustion, the Euro-Med Monitor field team documented severe injuries among detainees and prisoners, including limb amputations and severe swelling brought on by torture. Some appeared incapable of walking without the assistance of friends, and others required immediate medical attention because their health was rapidly deteriorating.
Even though the majority of detainees were not charged with any specific crimes, many of them claimed that they were beaten, mistreated, and threatened right up until the very last minute before their release. Since being kidnapped from the Gaza Strip at various points following 7 October 2023, they were arrested or detained, tortured, and subjected to degrading treatment as part of a systematic policy designed to cause them severe physical and psychological harm. This policy is a part of Israel’s crime of genocide, which aims to destroy the Palestinian people in the Strip, either entirely or partially, by weakening the foundations of their survival and leading them to submission or extinction.
Furthermore, the Euro-Med Monitor team documented Israel’s ongoing use of psychological torture and humiliation against recently released prisoners through the enforcement of laws that directly incite violence and genocide. This official systematic incitement is a fundamental tool of Israel’s policies against Palestinians, particularly those in the Gaza Strip. One example of these measures is the prison authorities’ requirement that newly released inmates and detainees wear vests with official Israeli Prison Service slogans and threatening phrases in Hebrew, including religious quotations that express the principle of revenge and pursuit until liquidation. Additionally, they are forced to wear plastic wristbands with derogatory words printed on them to psychologically degrade them and highlight the fact that they are still being singled out despite being “free”.
The phrase “I will pursue my enemies and overtake them; I will not return until I have destroyed them” is printed on the vests of Palestinian detainees and prisoners who have been released, and is taken from a biblical passage (Psalm 18:37) that expressly calls for killing and genocide. This is a form of direct and public incitement to genocide, which is forbidden by Article 3 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
By depriving the Palestinians of their humanity and treating them as a legitimate target for killing and targeting, Israel’s actions go beyond psychological warfare and constitute a dangerous extension of institutional hate speech and a consolidation of the intention to commit genocide.
The violations which Palestinian prisoners and detainees are subjected to by Israel, whether while these individuals are being held or being released, gravely violate international law and represent a blatant disregard for its mandatory regulations that forbid torture and cruel or inhuman treatment without exception. The Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions provide complete protection for prisoners and detainees, and forbid torture, humiliation, or retaliation, making these crimes punishable by international law.
The death of detainee Raafat Adnan Abdul Aziz Abu Fanouneh (34), who was tortured and abused following his arrest in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, was announced yesterday (Wednesday) in Israel’s Shamir Medical Centre (formerly Assaf Harofeh). A minimum of 60 prisoners and detainees—as these are the only victims whose identities are known—have perished in Israeli occupation prisons since the beginning of the genocide, including at least 39 individuals from the Gaza Strip. This is the highest number ever.
Israel continues to commit the crime of enforced disappearance against hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, failing to disclose their whereabouts or medical conditions to their loved ones, which raises serious concerns about the safety and lives of the people being held. Israel also continues to conceal any information about them from the press, despite credible evidence that dozens of additional prisoners and detainees have been killed inside Israeli prisons and detention facilities.
In addition to being crimes against humanity and full-fledged war crimes, the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army and other Israeli security forces against Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza Strip also amount to acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Strip, because they are carried out in a systematic and brutal manner. These acts include the killing of Palestinians and the infliction of severe physical and psychological harm, including torture, other forms of ill-treatment, and sexual violence, including rape, and are carried out with the goal of eradicating the Palestinian people as a whole.
All countries and pertinent international organisations must take swift and decisive action to end Israel’s widespread and systematic crimes of killing, torture, and other serious violations against Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Detainees who have been arbitrarily arrested must be released without conditions, right away. Additionally, local and international organisations must be given immediate permission to visit detainees, who must be allowed the opportunity to choose their own lawyer.
Israel’s notorious arbitrary detention practices, such as administrative detention and detention under the “Unlawful Combatants Law”, must be stopped. These practices are a blatant violation of international law and are employed as a systematic, repressive tool to weaken the Palestinian will, tear apart the social fabric that holds them together, and deny Palestinians their fundamental legal rights.
To ensure justice for Palestinian victims and that the Israeli occupation is held responsible for its violations, human rights and media organisations must step up their efforts to pressure Israel’s government to stop its ongoing crimes. In addition, these groups must work to highlight the suffering of Palestinian prisoners and detainees and to share these individuals’ testimonies about the horrific crimes they face.
The International Criminal Court must investigate the crimes, submit specialised reports regarding the crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, particularly after 7 October 2023, and issue arrest warrants for all perpetrators. All concerned nations must make sure the perpetrators of these crimes are prosecuted and brought before the Court to stand trial.
Israel must immediately cease its crime of enforced disappearance against Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza Strip; reveal all secret detention camps; reveal the names, whereabouts, and fates of all Palestinians it is holding from the Strip; and take full responsibility for the safety and well-being of these individuals. These demands must come from the international community.
Israel’s decision to bar two members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from entering its territory due to their pro-Palestine position is arbitrary and unfair. It also reflects Israel’s strategy of concealing its crimes against Palestinians, and is an expected reaction to MEPs who reject the complicit role most European politicians have assumed in response to the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli authorities stopped MEP Lynn Boylan, the head of the European Parliament EU-Palestine delegation, and MEP Rima Hassan upon their arrival at Ben Gurion Airport. The EU lawmakers were returned to Europe because of Hassan’s alleged “hostile” campaign to boycott and sanction Israel.
This decision reveals Israeli decision-makers’ disregard for fundamental human rights, such as freedom of movement and freedom of opinion and expression. It also embodies Israeli authorities’ insistence on its blackout policy and systematic restrictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. These restrictions are intended to prevent any independent oversight or disclosure of the facts; by prohibiting the entry of human rights activists, independent investigation teams, politicians, journalists, and individuals opposed to its policies, Israel is attempting to hide evidence of its violations and monopolise public perception to avoid international scrutiny and accountability.
This arbitrary measure is also used to maintain Israel’s illegal control over Palestinian borders and crossings. As part of its crime of apartheid and other human rights violations against the Palestinians, Israel uses its total control over movement into and out of the Occupied Palestinian Territory to persecute organisations and individuals for simply opposing illegal Israeli policies. It also denies the Palestinians their natural right to communicate with the outside world, such as by receiving international delegations and interacting with human rights and media institutions.
Moreover, the prevention of MEP Hassan from entering the Occupied Palestinian Territory is evidence of the Israeli government’s systematic policy of targeting and persecuting Palestinians in the diaspora by denying them the right to return to their homeland and imposing arbitrary restrictions on their ability to meet with their families. This is part of a larger Israeli strategy to isolate the Palestinians from their cultural roots and national identity, destroy their historical relationship with their land, and prevent the maintenance or establishment of any connection between displaced Palestinians and future generations and their homeland.
Given that MEP Boylan was planning to conduct tasks that are crucial to her job, such as meeting with representatives of civil society, Palestinian Authority officials, and Palestinian civilians affected by the Israeli occupation, the Israeli decision will inevitably make it more difficult for the two European MEPs to do their duties.
The European Union’s hesitant and frequently complicit stance towards Israeli crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the genocide in the Gaza Strip for over 15 months, has not only shielded Israel from accountability but also encouraged it to intensify its repressive tactics to include EU citizens. By directly exploiting European silence, Israel is able to uphold its system of egregious oppression and illegally punish all those who oppose Israeli occupation and violations against Palestinians.
The two European MEPs were banned after the Israeli Knesset approved an amendment to the “Entry into Israel Law” on 19 February. The amendment forbids granting entry visas to anyone who denies the Holocaust or the 7 October attacks, or who supports the prosecution of Israelis based on their military service or security.
The new amendment enshrines an arbitrary, discriminatory policy that violates Palestinian rights as well as international law. It also lacks independent mechanisms for review and appeal, and is clearly a tool to punish human rights defenders, silence critics of Israel, and further exclude Palestinians from the international protection system.
Besides monopolising access to information to control the narrative, and ignoring or distorting facts that do not serve its interests, Israel’s policy of prohibiting or restricting the entry of independent individuals and entities concerned with human rights, relief efforts, and unbiased journalism into its territory affects the most vulnerable victims of its crimes more than anyone else. This policy primarily undermines humanitarian relief operations and the work of independent fact-finding and investigation committees concerned with interviewing victims and documenting violations.
Since the European Union is Israel’s biggest trading partner and accounts for roughly 29% of its goods trade, the Union has purposefully avoided using any of its pressure tools against Israel. Powerful EU nations like Germany have also persisted in sending sizable shipments of weapons to Israel in spite of knowing that they would be used in the genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Israel is an illegal occupying power with no legal authority to impose sovereignty or regulate anyone’s access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Therefore, the international community must act swiftly to force Israel to lift its illegal blockade on the Occupied Palestinian Territory—particularly the Gaza Strip—and to stop the arbitrary and illegal restrictions placed on the ability of individuals and organisations to travel there.
It is critical to end Israel’s policies of blackouts and refusals to cooperate in order, as these are plain attempts to isolate the Occupied Palestinian Territory and thwart any independent international oversight of Israeli violations. There is no question that the prohibitions placed on journalists, human rights advocates, and humanitarian organisations are intended to ensure the Palestinian population does not benefit from international protection mechanisms, plus prevent the documentation of Israeli crimes against Palestinians.
The European Union must end its pointless cycle of denunciation followed by inaction, and apply serious pressure on Israel to cease its flagrant transgressions of the EU’s partnership principles. The EU itself must also be compelled to halt all import and export activities involving weapons and technologies that Israel uses to perpetrate crimes against the Palestinian people.
For the first time in 16 months pupils in Gaza are returning to schools despite the destruction of most of the educational system in Gaza.
The UN, Thursday, reported that more than 100,000 students have enrolled in schools across the Gaza Strip since the new academic year began Feb. 23.
“As of yesterday, more than 100,000 students have enrolled in school following the start of the new academic year on 23 February,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference as reported in Anadolu.
The “back-to-school” item is trending on the social media with much images of pupils and teachers return to what is left of their schools since Israel waged a genocidal war on the enclave soon after 7 October, 2023.
He stated that “to date, 165 public schools have reopened in Gaza. For most students, this will be their first time returning to in-person learning in 16 months.”
Available figures show 85% of schools in Gaza have been wrecked and no longer able to operate because of the Israeli bombardment.
The Gaza Media Office have reported at least 12,800 students, and 800 teachers and administrative staff, were killed, and 1,166 educational establishments destroyed in this Israeli war with estimating damage to the education sector at more than $2 billion.
Israel Kills 200 Lebanese Children – UNICEF
Nakba – 78 Years of Occupation Misery
Palestinians Remember The Eveil Nakba
Nakba – 78 Years On
An Egyptian House in a German Town
Dr Khairi Janbek
Saleem Ayoub Quna
marwan
CrossFireArabia
