In an internal investigation released on Thursday, the Israeli military acknowledges its "complete failure" in preventing the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed over 1,100 people, most of them civilians.
The military admits that it was "overconfident" and underestimated Hamas' military capabilities, according to an unnamed Israeli military officer who shared the report's contents with reporters at a press conference.
The investigation describes the Hamas attack in three waves and states that over 5,000 people entered Israel from Gaza.
"The first wave ... included over 1,000 Nukhba terrorists (elite forces) who infiltrated under the cover of heavy artillery fire," reads the summary of the investigation.
The second wave consisted of 2,000 militant Palestinians and the third wave hundreds of militants along with several thousand civilian Gazans.
The outgoing Defense Chief Herzi Halevi is self-critical.
The responsibility is mine. I was the military commander on October 7, and I also take full responsibility for all of you, he says in a video statement.
