Egyptian intelligence officials warned their Israeli counterparts of a possible terrorist attack days before Hamas massacred at least 1,300 people, according to the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who said Wednesday he doesn’t know how. Israel and the United States missed the signs.
“We know that the Egyptian intelligence service provided this days before the terrorist invasion, so to speak, or the attack,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told CNN after a closed-door intelligence briefing. “So there are a lot of questions about that.”
McCaul’s comment came two days after an Egyptian intelligence official told the Associated Press that the Israelis “underestimated” warnings from Cairo that “an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon, and it would be big.” .
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office dismissed the report as “totally fake news.”
“The information that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a message in advance from Egypt is absolutely false,” he said in a statement posted on social media.
Rep. Michael McCaul joined other members of Congress and Joe Biden for a closed-door update on Israel on Wednesday.REUTERS
“No advance message has arrived from Egypt and the Prime Minister has not spoken or met with the head of Egyptian intelligence since the formation of the government, either directly or indirectly.”
McCaul said Wednesday that it was unclear at what level Egyptian intelligence was shared.
“I’m sure there are many streams of threats coming to Israeli intelligence, particularly from Gaza and the West Bank,” he told CNN host Wolf Blitzer. “But, you know, Wolf, the thing is that they… we know that Hamas has been planning this attack for quite some time, maybe even up to a year ago. And the idea that it was not discovered raises some concerns, also when it comes to groups like Hezbollah and Iran. We need to make sure we don’t make that mistake.
Hamas terrorists surround a truck supposedly carrying a captured Israeli woman. AFP via Getty Images
“For Israel, this is like 9/11,” McCaul added. “I mean, it really is. “It’s reminiscent of what we went through in the United States when we had an intelligence failure.”
Hamas took Israel – and the rest of the world – by surprise when it unleashed a barrage of rockets and sent dozens of armed terrorists into communities early Saturday.
An exiled leader of the terrorist group has since said that the attack was planned for two years, but he was shocked that it killed more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians.
Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel.
A diplomatic source also said they wanted to “embarrass” Israel “and return to Gaza with two or three kidnapped Israelis,” not the 150 they are believed to have kidnapped.
“This is a huge failure,” admitted Yaakov Amidror, Netanyahu’s former national security adviser. “This operation actually shows that (Israeli intelligence) capabilities in Gaza were not good.”
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, seen from the city of Ashkelon.REUTERS
A New York Times report on Tuesday described a series of failures by Israeli security and intelligence officials, including an increase in terrorist comments hours before Saturday’s massacre, triggering a warning that was not received or not acted on. acted accordingly.
The report also indicated that Israeli officials took at face value indications that Hamas leaders were unable or unwilling to carry out large-scale operations against the Jewish state, to the point that discussion of the threat posed by Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants dominated intelligence reporting days. before the attack.
The worst attack on Israel in 50 years: how we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after seizing the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: The terrorist group Hamas wins the Palestinian legislative elections.
2007: Hamas takes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches a military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fire rockets at the city of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches largest attack on Israel in 50 years.
More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, more than 3,000 wounded and at least 100 taken hostage, with the death toll expected to rise after Hamas terrorists fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of militants into Israeli cities. .
Hamas terrorists were seen taking women hostage and parading them down the street in gruesome videos.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “We are at war” and promised that Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
Gaza health officials report that at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,000 injured.
Hamas, on the other hand, was “barely mentioned,” and an intelligence official reportedly said the terrorist group had been “deterred,” according to the Times.
President Biden has pledged continued US support for the Israeli cause, although reports say he privately urged Netanyahu to minimize civilian casualties due to retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza.
People put out a car fire in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon after a rocket attack from Gaza on October 9, 2023. AFP via Getty Images Hamas transports captured Israeli civilians.AP
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Thursday in a show of support for the Jewish state, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will arrive on Friday.
McCaul’s office did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
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