Nearly two years have passed since October 7, 2023—now remembered in Israeli history as a day of unprecedented horror. On that morning, Hamas launched a surprise assault on southern Israel, killing over 1,100 people, most of them civilians. The attack devastated communities, shattered Israel’s sense of military dominance, and plunged the region into its bloodiest war in decades. But today, that official narrative—that the assault was a complete surprise—is rapidly deteriorating under the weight of mounting evidence, overlooked warnings, and disturbing new testimony.
At the center of the unraveling story is a question that refuses to go away: Was Israel warned? And if so, why did it do nothing?
A ‘Strange Order’ That May Have Changed Everything
On July 17, 2025, Israeli soldier Shalom Sheetrit gave explosive testimony before the Knesset’s lobby for reserve personnel, confirming that his unit was given a highly unusual directive early on the morning of October 7. Serving in the Golani Brigade and stationed at the Pega military outpost near Kibbutz Be’eri, Sheetrit revealed that the daily patrol of the Gaza border—standard procedure for years—was canceled without explanation.
“We were playing on the phone [at 5:20 a.m.] and suddenly a strange message comes from my battalion commander,” Sheetrit told the Knesset. “And what he says on the call is something like this: ‘I don’t know why, but an order was issued that there are no patrols at the fence until nine in the morning.’”
He named Yotam Sror and Itamar Ben Yehuda as fellow soldiers present with him that morning, further corroborating the event. These patrols were not optional—they were routine and essential for identifying infiltrations or sabotage attempts. Canceling them, especially during a holiday when forces were already understaffed, defied all logic and protocol.
While Sheetrit stopped short of assigning blame, he acknowledged that his unit failed to defend Kibbutz Be’eri, where over 100 Israelis were killed in one of the bloodiest engagements of the day.
“Unfortunately, we were not up to the task,” he said. “There were dozens against hundreds of terrorists, 25 against 150… I’m far from being a military man who can give answers… The situation hurts me just as it hurts everyone.”
Soldiers Asleep, Commanders Absent
When asked whether the stand-down order contributed to the vulnerability of troops—many of whom were reportedly still asleep when the attack began—Sheetrit responded cautiously.
“In our mortar department, there was an alert at dawn, and we woke up. It’s possible that in the patrol departments, they were told not to wake up. I don’t know. I don’t want to just say that.”
He added that some senior officers had reportedly left for Eilat, despite intelligence warnings received a week before.
“That’s the failure,” he concluded. “It’s not a failure of the fighters on the ground, but of the higher levels in the army—of people who went down to Eilat even though we informed them a week in advance that there was intelligence information.”
A Trail of Ignored Warnings
Sheetrit’s testimony adds to an already damning pile of missed—or dismissed—intelligence. In the weeks prior, female surveillance soldiers monitoring the Gaza border filed multiple reports warning of Hamas training exercises that simulated border breaches, hostage-taking, and kibbutz invasions.
A particularly detailed warning was sent to the top intelligence officer in Israel’s Southern Command, according to Financial Times. It explicitly described plans to:
- Blow up border posts
- Storm kibbutzim
- Take hostages to exchange for Palestinian prisoners
A senior officer reportedly dismissed it as “an imaginary scenario.” No action was taken.
Meanwhile, in July 2023, elite Israeli cyber-intelligence unit Unit 8200 compiled the Jericho Wall Report. It predicted a Hamas assault using rocket barrages, drones, explosives, and motorcycle-led raids—exactly what unfolded on October 7. That report, too, was buried.
Adding to this pattern of disregard, Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate claims it issued a clear and urgent warning to Israel three days before the attack. While Netanyahu initially denied it, Israeli intelligence later admitted receiving it—but deemed it too vague to act upon.
The Hannibal Directive and the Killing of Civilians
As Hamas breached the border, Israeli military command launched a heavy and deadly response. Apache helicopters, tanks, and drones were deployed—not only against militant targets but also on Israeli communities where Hamas fighters and civilians were mixed.
The controversial Hannibal Directive, a secretive protocol that permits overwhelming force to prevent hostage-taking—even if it risks killing the hostages—was apparently invoked.
At Kibbutz Be’eri, other kibbutzim, and the Nova Music Festival, witnesses reported that Israeli airstrikes killed both militants and civilians, including burning hundreds alive. Initially, all casualties were blamed on Hamas. But a 2024 military probe has since confirmed that many were killed by Israeli fire under Hannibal orders.
Sheetrit, reflecting on this, said:
“The blood of my friends and the blood of many people in the country was spilled in a huge tragedy, and I tried to understand why it happened and how.”
Cui Bono? Netanyahu’s Political Resurrection
As this scandal grows, so too does the suspicion that Israel’s leadership had political motive to allow or ignore the unfolding threat.
In the months before October 7, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was politically cornered. Facing mass protests over judicial overhauls, thousands of reservists refusing service, a fractured cabinet, and a looming corruption trial, he was running out of time and allies.
But after the Hamas attack, his fortunes reversed overnight. The opposition rallied. Protests stopped. Defense budgets soared. And Netanyahu went from embattled defendant to wartime prime minister.
Gaza: A War Built on a Lie?
In response to October 7, Israel launched its deadliest assault on Gaza in history. As of August 2025, the war has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians and wounded more than 147,000 others, mostly women and children. Entire families have been wiped out. Hospitals, schools, mosques, and displacement camps have been bombed. Human rights groups have accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Israeli watchdogs B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel have issued scathing reports that accuse their own government of mass atrocities.
Making matters worse, former U.S. President Donald Trump has openly supported Israel’s goals, suggesting a plan to depopulate Gaza by resettling Palestinians in Egypt or Jordan, while promoting a vision of turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
A Deafening Refusal of Accountability
Despite the scope of the tragedy, Israel has refused to launch any meaningful independent inquiry. Military reviews are classified. Survivor testimonies like Sheetrit’s are ignored or suppressed. Demands for a civilian-led commission have been met with silence.
The implication is clear: If Israel had nothing to hide, it would not be hiding everything.
The Case for a Global Investigation
What is now needed is a full international investigation, empowered to:
- Subpoena Israeli military and political leaders
- Access classified documents including the Jericho Wall report
- Confirm who issued the stand-down order
- Determine the extent to which the Hannibal Directive was applied
- Assess whether the attack was permitted or exploited for political or military objectives
If it turns out that the Israeli government risked—or even sacrificed—its own civilians to launch a politically expedient war, it would represent one of the gravest betrayals of trust in modern history.
Netanyahu’s legacy would not be that of Israel’s protector, but rather, as the man who let it burn to save himself.
The world must now demand answers. Until then, the war in Gaza may well be remembered not as a war of necessity—but as a war of deception.
