Israel knew about threat to Supernova Festival, didn't warn organizers
Israel's security forces were aware of the possibility of Hamas attacking the Supernova music festival on October 7. However, the organizers of the event were not alerted and were left to "fend for themselves" four hours after the attack, Haaretz reported. A recent investigation uncovered that Israeli intelligence agents and military leaders held secret late-night meetings hours before the attack to discuss the potential threat of a Hamas attack but dismissed the apparent activity as a training exercise by Hamas.
Why does this story matter?
Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking nearly 240 hostages. The festival, which was held near the Gaza border, was one of the first targets of Hamas. The group killed 360 festivalgoers and kidnapped 40 people that day. The attack triggered an ongoing war in which Israel launched an unprecedented offensive in Gaza, killing over 16,000 Palestinians. As per the Palestinian health ministry, 70% of the deceased are women and children under 18 years old.
IDF held meetings, dismissed threat as training exercise
The festival was organized in close collaboration with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and received approval from the Gaza division's northern brigade, which was responsible for the event's security. Reportedly, two meetings took place, one near midnight and another around 3:00am local time, on October 7, and it was decided to increase drone surveillance flights and alert two commando teams of a potential incursion. Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel around dawn and attacked the festival in the morning.
IDF arrived hours later
When festival organizers contacted the IDF for help, they were told to fend for themselves. The IDF arrived at the festival site hours later, around 3:00pm (local time), by which point surviving attendees had either escaped or pretended to be dead for hours. Last month, the Israeli security establishment found in their assessment that Hamas did not have prior information about the music festival and decided to attack it spontaneously, Haaretz reported.
Israel knew about Hamas's plans a year ago: NYT report
The New York Times also recently reported that Israel intercepted Hamas's plans for the October 7 attack over a year ago but dismissed them as "too ambitious for the terrorist group to carry out." The 40-page blueprint of the battle plans, code-named Jericho Wall, was circulated widely among Israeli officials but was shrugged off. A day after the Hamas attack, an Egyptian intelligence official alleged that Israel ignored multiple warnings from Egypt about a major impending attack by Hamas.
