Israeli intelligence services received information about Hamas preparations for military action in the Gaza Strip but mistakenly perceived it as a drill and did not sound the alarm, as reported by The Times of Israel.
"High-ranking military and General Security Service officials held telephone conversations, including Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi, just hours before the Hamas attack. They concluded that the actions in Gaza were likely part of a military exercise and decided to continue discussions the next morning without raising any alarms or mobilizing forces to the Gaza border area," the newspaper reports.
The newspaper also points out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he received no warnings from security authorities before the Hamas attack in the south. Upon being informed of the hostilities, he promptly headed to the military headquarters in Tel Aviv to assess the situation and convened the security cabinet, as reported by the prime minister's office.
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Based on materials from TASS