Israeli Army: Time to Drastically Change the Middle East Through War

On Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces claimed that it was time for a comprehensive review of the war stages and to reflect on how the Middle East has been radically altered throughout the conflict.

In a statement, the army’s spokesperson in Arabic, Avichay Adraee, stated that the Israeli army had been conducting extensive investigations over the past few months regarding the failures during the war in the Gaza Strip, extracting lessons from it, and presenting the findings.

Adraee said: “It is time for a comprehensive review of the stages of the war so far, and to reflect on how the Middle East has been radically changed throughout it,” without offering further details.

He continued: “In the 16 months following the army’s failure on October 7, we delivered a devastating military blow to Hamas and its military capabilities, unprecedentedly defeated Hezbollah, and attacked and destroyed key targets in Iran and Yemen,” he claimed.

Adraee added: “After the major failure, the army was able to deliver powerful and historic blows to the aggressors and created an opportunity for a positive and profound change in Israel’s strategic situation in the region.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli Shin Bet (Shabak) acknowledged on Tuesday its failure in assessing Hamas before the October 7 events.

According to Channel 12’s Hebrew report on the Shin Bet investigation into the attack, “There were gaps and issues in handling intelligence information in general, and in the oversight mechanisms of intelligence operations in particular, on the night of October 7.”

The report confirmed that “the policy of silence allowed Hamas to gain tremendous strength,” adding: “We faced difficulty in recruiting agents in the Gaza Strip.”

The channel’s website also reported that the Shin Bet admitted its failure over the years in understanding Hamas’s offensive plan, stating: “Our belief that Hamas was preoccupied with the West Bank was one of the reasons for our failure to warn about the October 7 attack.”

The report further highlighted that “there was an exaggeration in the capabilities of the fence, the Israeli army’s forces, and a lack of effective oversight.”

According to the Shin Bet’s report: “While Hamas was building its strength, there was no clear division of responsibility within the defense establishment between the Israeli army and Shin Bet regarding the warning of the war,” as reported by the channel.

Israeli public broadcaster, on Tuesday, confirmed that Shin Bet acknowledged its failure in not properly assessing Hamas before October 7, 2023, or the operation Hamas announced on that day.

The broadcaster emphasized on its “X” account that the Shin Bet’s report hinted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had laid out a failed policy over the years.