Bombshell revelations shine new light on massive security failures before Oct. 7 Hamas invasion

Three major revelations are throwing new light on the deep and tragic failures of the Israeli security establishment on Oct. 7, which allowed the terror organization Hamas to carry out its surprise invasion and horrific massacre.

The night before the attack, Israeli intelligence services noticed highly irregular movements by members of Hamas' senior leadership in the Gaza Strip, Israel's Channel 13 news reported on Monday evening, after the IDF censor allowed the publication of the explosive report.

Another major red flag warning of the impending invasion that was missed by Israel: IDF intelligence noticed a number of Hamas terrorists activating Israeli SIM cards in their phones just after midnight on Oct. 7, mere hours before the Hamas invasion.

Channel 12 reported that, despite all the warning signs, a request by the IDF's Southern Command to station helicopter squads closer to the Gaza border was denied shortly before Oct. 7.

The request was rejected after intelligence estimated that the warning signs indicated that the activity was only an exercise and decided not to burn sensitive intelligence resources by overreacting.

The report regarding the SIMs was cleared for publication by the IDF censor on Monday, after a Channel 14 news report the evening prior had claimed that Hamas terrorists simultaneously activated some 1,000 SIM cards.

Other Israeli media outlets reported that only hundreds, not thousands, of Israeli SIM cards were activated.

The IDF and Shin Bet domestic intelligence denied the reports, saying they were “far from the truth,” instead claiming that only a “few dozen” SIMs were activated.

“An accumulation of indicative signs was received, which included, among other things, the activation of a few dozen SIMs, which were also activated in previous events in the past. Accordingly, the system was prepared and intelligence and operative operations were carried out in the field,” the IDF and Shin Bet wrote in a joint statement.

“All the events and information available that night will be investigated as part of the probes carried out by the Shin Bet and the IDF. Publications should be responsible and cautious so that operational methods and capabilities are not compromised during wartime,” the statement read.

Following the reports, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) at first stated that Netanyahu was not informed "in real-time,” adding that he was told about the activation of hundreds of SIMs only on Sunday evening, Oct. 8.

After the IDF and Shin Bet statement was released, the PMO made another announcement clarifying that Netanyahu had known “the details about a few individual SIMs after October 7th,” but not about “hundreds or thousands of SIMs,” as Channel 14 reported.

The intelligence about the simultaneous activation of Israeli SIM cards was a clear sign that Hamas terrorists intended to invade Israeli territory or at least operate near the border.

Similar activity had been noticed in the past, Army Radio reported. Despite the warning signs, and several other indications, the intelligence services tragically remained convinced that Hamas wouldn’t dare attempt an invasion on the scale that it did.

The timing of the revelations is also important, as they came shortly after the announcement that IDF was to begin internal investigations of the failures leading up to and on Oct. 7.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi claimed he was not given the intelligence in real-time, as did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Reports about the SIM cards circulated among members of the media for months but were not cleared for publication, several Israeli journalists revealed on Monday.

It was only after Channel 14 reported the information live on air that the IDF censor approved their publication the following day.