Hamas practiced 'perfect deception exercise' against Israel before Oct. 7 attack: Israeli official

By Abdelraouf Arna'out

JERUSALEM (AA) - A senior Israeli security official said Friday that Hamas practiced what he called "a perfect deception exercise" against Israel before its surprise attack on locations surrounding Gaza on Oct. 7.

"No one understood this, not Aman (military intelligence), not the Shin Bet, nor the Mossad," the Jerusalem Post quoted the unnamed official. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have left the border unguarded, with no basic response from the ground or air."

"Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif (top military commander) and Yahya Sinwar (chief in Gaza) were aware of the close surveillance by the Israeli intelligence community and used covert methods to communicate messages," said the newspaper.

It said Hamas managed to exercise precise preparation for the Oct. 7 incursion.

In 2018, Israel carried out the "Tropical Fruit" intelligence operation in Gaza to install spy devices and equipment, which were uncovered by Hamas. But when the equipment was bombed by the Israeli army after being discovered, some survived and fell into Hamas' hands.

The newspaper noted that Hamas likely received help from Iran to decode the equipment and their methods.

Israeli authorities are yet to comment on the report.

Israel in previous statements admitted an intelligence and military failure in detecting the Hamas attack in an operation code-named by the group as Al-Aqsa Flood.

The Hamas surprise attack triggered a bloody Israeli response on Gaza which has since killed more than 15,000 Palestinians, while 1,200 Israelis have also been killed, according to official estimates.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar