Israel’s ambassador to France, Raphael Morav, admitted on Saturday the possibility of a failure of the Israeli intelligence services, as well as an insufficient preparation of his country in the face of the Hamas offensive, in interviews with the French media, reports the AFP agency, quoted by Agerpres.
Massive rocket attack on Israel launched by Hamas militants in GazaPhoto: JACK GUEZ / AFP / Profimedia
“If we had a minimum of information, we would have taken measures to counterattack. We would have been prepared. So it must have been a failure on the part of the intelligence services, I do not hide this. Now what is important is to give an adequate response to this attack,” the Israeli diplomat said on the BFMTV channel.
“As a result of this surprise, we were not prepared enough, you could say at all,” he told Europe 1, adding that “lessons must be learned” in a context where the Israeli security services are reputed for their effectiveness. , notes AFP. “The goal is not to repeat it again”, he also mentioned.
Israel and the Gaza Strip are at war after the launch on Saturday morning of a spectacular military offensive by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which launched thousands of rockets and infiltrated fighters into Israeli territory, where they also took hostages.
A spokesman for the Israeli army indicated on Saturday evening, without giving details, that “hundreds” of armed men had entered Israel from Gaza since the morning.
He mentioned that the Israeli military is fighting “terrorists who have invaded” Israel in 22 places and there is a “serious situation involving hostages” in two towns east of Gaza, Beeri and Ofakim.
- The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched its strongest attack on Israel in years on Saturday, in a surprise assault that combined armed fighters who broke through security barriers and an avalanche of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. The attack took place at dawn on Saturday, during the great Jewish holiday Simchat Torah.
- The death toll is hundreds of dead, and thousands of wounded, both in the Israeli and Palestinian camps.
- “We are at war and we will win,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted. “Our enemy will pay a price he has never known before,” Netanyahu said in a video speech.
The events regarding the surprise war of Hamas against Israel are LIVETEXT on HotNews.ro
