Israel is said to have received several warnings that a possible attack could come. A Norwegian expert believes there is reason to be skeptical of the information.
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Egypt is said to have warned Israel several times of a possible attack. An Egyptian official says, according to the AP news agency, that Israel underestimated the warnings. Marte Heian-Engdal from Noref warns against taking the statements at face value. The Israeli journalist Amos Harel says that the attack against Israel has probably been planned in secret for several months. Former Israeli general Amir Avivi says the Gaza forces must have gone “back to the stone age” to avoid technological revelations. Show more
An Egyptian official claims to the news agency AP that Egypt has repeatedly warned Israel that “something big” would happen.
– We warned them that there would be a major escalation of the conflict, and very soon – we said it would be major. They underestimated these warnings, says the anonymous official, according to AP.
The official requested anonymity because he should not have had permission to discuss the content of those discussions with the media.
Israel is said to have received warnings from several quarters that they have misread reality.
He also says that Israel had its focus on the West Bank, and should have downplayed the threat from Gaza.
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– High time for rumours
However, Marte Heian-Engdal, assistant director of NorefNorefSenter for international conflict resolution, says that the statements of the Egyptian official should not be taken for granted.
– It’s holiday time for rumours. There are forces everywhere that would benefit from discrediting Israeli intelligence. Now I also see some conspiracy theories that Israel should have allowed the intelligence lapse in order to be “forced” to invade Gaza, to start a major war. This is somewhat in the same street, says Heian-Engdal.
She explains that Egypt has been an important link in the communication between Palestine and Israel, with great political and geographical interest in being close to the conflict.
The assistant director also points out that intelligence is not perfection, and that mistakes are made here too.
Marte Heian-Engdal, assistant director of Noref. Photo: Archive
– Back to the Stone Age
– In reality, hundreds – if not thousands – of Hamas’s men have been preparing a surprise attack for several months, wrote the Israeli journalist Amos Harel in the newspaper Haaretz.
He has also directed criticism at how Israel was positioned before the attack came.
– The failure and poor preparedness of Israeli intelligence was not the only problem. Israel’s operational defense understanding of Gaza is clearly broken, he says.
A former Israeli general has said that the security service in Israel has relied heavily on technological methods to obtain information.
The militant forces in Gaza are said to have exploited that.
– The other side must have learned to handle the technological dominance of Israel. They stopped using technology that could expose them. They have gone back to the stone age, said the former general Amir Avivi.
ATTACKS: A large number of rockets have been sent into Israel in recent days. Photo: AMIR COHEN / Reuters / NTB
Heian-Engdal in Noref says that she is very surprised that Israeli intelligence should not have been aware of the attack by Hamas.
– Israel has taken pride in having a very good intelligence service. They are a highly valued cooperation partner for many countries on the intelligence side, says Heian-Engdal.
She describes the enormous Israeli security around the Gaza Strip and says:
– Does it sound like a place to do this to?
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Published: 09.10.23 at 15:46
Updated: 09.10.23 at 16:36
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2023-10-09 13:46:38
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