Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar instructed the Israeli security agency to launch operational investigations in the intelligence organization’s departments and units related to the events of October 7 and the issues that preceded them, Israeli media reported.
Ynet reported the Israeli order on Thursday, noting that the Shin Bet is joining the move started by the Israeli occupation army, which has already begun probes into the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
Sources in the Shin Bet said that, due to the fact that the investigations are taking place during the fighting in Gaza, they are expected to last for several weeks, and possibly months.
Meanwhile, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman has begun collecting materials from the Shin Bet for the inquiry he’s conducting, the Israeli report added.
The Shin Bet confirmed that investigations into October 7 have indeed started, alongside fighting in the Gaza Strip as well as operations in the West Bank, as the Muslim holy month Ramadan is set to begin March 10.
The Israeli security agency will investigate what happened on the night between October 6 and 7, when alerts about a possible Hamas attack were received; the initial signs that were seen and not interpreted correctly as a launch of an offensive; the Israeli SIM cards activated by the Hamas fighters before the attack; and the fact that no human agent was available within Hamas to report the resistance group’s plans in advance, according to Ynet.
On the night before October 7, a discussion was held with Israeli Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi and other senior military officials.
The Shin Bet understood that something was taking place, and the Shin Bet Chief Bar arrived at his headquarters and remained there until the start of the attack, the report added.
'The responsibility lies on me, we failed to provide a warning ahead of time,' Bar said after the start of the war, and now investigations have begun within the agency in order to understand how and why this happened.
Meanwhile on Thursday, Israeli Army Radio reported that 4 Israeli colonels, 39 platoon commanders, 13 company commanders and 6 lieutenant colonels have been killed” since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th.
