TEL AVIV, Oct. 16 Head of the Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet) Ronen Bar on Monday said he bears responsibility for the intelligence services' failure to prevent the Hamas attack.
«»Despite a number of actions we took, unfortunately, on Saturday we failed to create sufficient warning that would have allowed to disrupt the attack. As the head of the organization, I declare that the responsibility for this lies with me. There will be time for investigations. For now we must fight,» Bar said in a written address to Shin Bet officers.
This is the first public statement from the head of one of the most important Israeli intelligence services since the start of the escalation.
On the morning of October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented-scale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. In addition, after massive rocket attacks, the organization’s fighters penetrated into the border areas in southern Israel. In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Within days of the attack, the Israeli military took control of all settlements along the Gaza border and began conducting air strikes on targets, including civilians , on the territory of the sector. Israel also announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: the supply of water, food, electricity, medicine, and fuel was suspended.
The number of victims in the Gaza Strip exceeded 2 thousand people, and the death toll of Israeli residents exceeded a thousand; several thousand Israelis and Palestinians were injured. Several dead and missing Russians, as well as citizens of other countries, were reported. According to various sources, Hamas may hold about 150 Israelis captive.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to stop hostilities. According to the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the settlement of the Middle East crisis is possible exclusively on the basis of a “two-state” formula approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict related to territorial interests of the parties, has been a source of tension and fighting in the region for many decades. A UN decision with the active role of the USSR in 1947 determined the creation of two states — Israel and Palestine, but only the Israeli one was created. Israel, while declaring agreement with the two-state principle, did not completely liberate the Palestinian territories.