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IDF Veteran: Signs Showing of Large-Scale Op to Eliminate Hamas

© Photo : Israel Defence ForceIDF Depth Corps personnel during training in Crete.
IDF Depth Corps personnel during training in Crete. - Sputnik International, 1920, 09.10.2023
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Some US and Israeli officials have blamed Tel Aviv's intelligence for its inability to prevent the Hamas surprise assault. Sputnik reached out to retired Lt. Col. Dr. Mordechai Kedar, who served for 25 years in IDF military intelligence specializing in Arab political discourse, to discuss the matter.
The Hamas attack coincided with the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and a coalition of Arab states. At about 6:30 am (GMT+3) on October 7, the militant organization designated as a terrorist entity by the Israeli state kicked off a barrage against Israelis from the Gaza Strip, infiltrated nearby areas, took hostages and clashed with the Israeli military.

How Come Israel Was Caught Off Guard?

Numerous social media posts have recently popped up featuring videos of Israeli soldiers nonchalantly walking through the streets of Sderot as well as pictures of Israeli military equipment in the open field with no visible protection against potential drone attacks. Some defense analysts went even so far as to argue that these images suggest that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has a "complacency" or "overconfidence" problem.

"The intelligence should shake the situation, if they feel that there's something dreadful is going to happen. And they didn't, apparently," retired Lt. Col. Dr. Mordechai Kedar told Sputnik.

"This thing has to be still investigated. The details are yet unknown. Right now Israel is preoccupied by the necessity to win the war. After the war we will investigate what happened in the first place and where were the problems which definitely were there," the Israeli intelligence expert said.
There have been various reports saying that Israel is bracing for a large-scale military operation after taking control over settlements earlier infiltrated by Hamas and evacuating residents from the regions near the Gaza Strip.
Avichai Adrai, a representative of the IDF, told Sputnik on Sunday that the Israeli military is considering all options, including a ground operation in Gaza. By October 9, Israel had mobilized 300,000 reservists and Tel Aviv has imposed a full blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel's ally, the US, has sent the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
An Israeli soldier takes cover as an Iron Dome air defence system launches to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 09.10.2023
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What Strategy Will Israel Choose?

"There are two options," said the retired lieutenant colonel. "One is to come to a ceasefire with Hamas, to come to some swap of prisoners on one side and the hostages on another side, including corpses of the fighters. And this will only be the preamble for the next round, which might be very short to get rid of Hamas altogether."
"And this is much more costly. But the benefit is way much bigger. You actually have a benefit because you raid the war on this problem named Hamas, because if Hamas succeeds, we actually open another fronts with Hezbollah, and Iranians, and other proxies in Syria and other countries, because they would consider Israel be a weak country."
According to Kedar, this is why Israel "will do something decisive vis-a-vis Gaza. One of the signs of the forthcoming operation is "a very significant American flotilla headed by the aircraft carrier [USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)] in order to deter Hamas and to deter Hezbollah from entering the war." Per the Israeli expert, this would allow the IDF to solve the Hamas dilemma in the Gaza Strip.
"The objective is to get rid of Hamas. To just kick them out or into the ground and to rid the world of the problem named Hamas," the retired lieutenant colonel said.
Ukrainian soldier armed with US Javelin ride along Khreshchatyk Street, during a military parade to celebrate Independence Day in Kiev, Ukraine. File photo - Sputnik International, 1920, 08.10.2023
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When asked where Hamas could get its weapons, including US-made rifles, Soviet-era MANPADS and some other weapons, the Israeli intelligence expert noted that while the source is unknown yet, there are ways that these weapons could be smuggled into Gaza:
"Israel allows humanitarian aid to come to Gaza and humanitarian aid, including all kinds of things in which they give in the humanitarian aid," he said. "Only two weeks ago Israel found in one of the humanitarian convoys which came to us from Turkiye we found 16 tonnes of the material which is the basis material for explosives. And you can make these other things like fertilizer. But Hamas is producing explosives out of this material and the 16 tonnes is definitely something which will not be used as fertilizer."
Meanwhile, some observers have suggested that the weapons in question could have come from Ukraine (which has long been castigated as an arms black market) as well as from Afghanistan, where the US military left millions' worth of equipment behind in 2021. Russia has repeatedly warned the US about the possible dire consequences of the militarization of Central Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Masked militants from the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, a military wing of Hamas, march with their rifles along the main road of the Nusseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, 28 October 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920, 08.10.2023
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