A Texas congressman and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Wednesday that Egypt warned Israel of Hamas’ surprise attack in the weeks leading up to the assault that killed at least 1,200.
Speaking on Wednesday, Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican, confirmed what Egyptian intelligence had previously said and contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
‘It seems there was an intelligence failure. We’re not quite sure how we missed it. We’re not quite sure how Israel missed it,” McCaul said.
He just got a closed briefing from Biden administration officials for an update on the crisis.
‘We know Egypt warned the Israelis three days before that an event like this could happen. We know it may have been planned as long as a year ago,’ McCaul added.
Speaking on Wednesday, Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican, confirmed what Egyptian intelligence had previously said and contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Netanyahu’s office cited reports that the Egyptians had warned them of “fake news” in a tweet sent out on Monday.
“The report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a message from Egypt in advance is absolutely false,” the prime minister’s office account posted.
‘No advance message has arrived from Egypt and the Prime Minister has neither directly nor indirectly spoken or met with the head of Egyptian intelligence since the formation of the government. This is completely fake news,” they added.
McCaul, when asked who he heard from, said that the intelligence was out there.
‘I don’t want to get too much into classifieds, but a warning has been given, I guess the question is at what level’
In the wake of the attacks, allies who share intelligence with Israel said security agencies were misreading reality.
An Egyptian intelligence official said Egypt, which often serves as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, had repeatedly spoken to the Israelis about “something big,” without elaborating.
He said Israeli officials were focused on the West Bank and played down the threat from Gaza.
Netanyahu’s office cited reports that the Egyptians had warned them of ‘fake news’ in a tweet sent out on Monday
McCaul, when asked who he heard from, said that the intelligence was out there
Netanyahu’s government is made up of supporters of Jewish West Bank settlers who have demanded a security crackdown in the face of a rising tide of violence there over the past 18 months.
“We warned them that an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon, and it will be big. But they underestimated such warnings,’ said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the content of sensitive intelligence conversations with the media.
Israel’s intelligence agencies have acquired an aura of invincibility over the decades due to a series of achievements.
The state foiled plots dotted in the West Bank, allegedly hunted down Hamas operatives in Dubai and was accused of killing Iranian nuclear scientists in the heart of Iran.
Even when their efforts failed, agencies such as the Mossad, Shin Bet and military intelligence maintained their mystique.
But this weekend’s attack, which caught Israel off guard on a major Jewish holiday, casts doubt on that reputation and raises questions about the country’s readiness in the face of a weaker but more determined enemy.
More than 48 hours later, Hamas militants continued to fight Israeli forces inside Israeli territory, and dozens of Israelis were in Hamas captivity in Gaza.
“It’s a big failure,” said Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “This operation actually proves that the (intelligence) capabilities in Gaza were not good.”
Amidror declined to offer an explanation for the failure, saying lessons should be learned when the dust settles.
Joe Biden said on Wednesday he had seen photos from Israel over the weekend of “terrorists beheading children” – confirming Israeli soldiers’ stories of almost unimaginable horror, and insisted the US was working feverishly to rescue the hostages.
Biden held a meeting with Jewish community leaders at the White House on Wednesday and said he was shocked by the brutality of the Hamas attack.
At least 1,200 Israelis were killed in Saturday’s carnage, which began when Hamas militants crossed into Israel from Gaza and killed people at a music festival and in their homes near the border.
“This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty, not just hate, but pure cruelty, against the Jewish people,” Biden said.
He added: ‘I never really thought I would see and confirm pictures of terrorists beheading children.’
And he warned Iran, which acts as Hamas’ patron, not to get involved.