New Revelations Show Israeli Officials Knew of Plan for Hamas Attack!

As many seasoned observers suspected, the “surprise attack” by Hamas on Israel was not entirely a “surprise.” On Dec. 1, the New York Times reported that Israeli intelligence and security forces had obtained a year earlier a forty-plus page document outlining a plan by Hamas for an attack on Israel. Then in July, Israeli intelligence operatives became aware of an Hamas military exercise, which proceeded along the lines of the attack which was launched less than three months later. But Israeli officials allegedly considered such an attack to be beyond the capabilities of Hamas to execute. The article does not indicate whether the assessment reached top officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu.

What is significant is that the Times article broke out of the containment which has prevented virtually any criticism of Israel’s brutal campaign of revenge from appearing in the mainstream media. It was published at a moment when other stories surfaced showing cracks in the support for Israel, and as demonstrations against the Netanyahu regime’s policies were growing in the U.S., and worldwide. The article raises questions about whether the Oct. 7 attack provided a justification to drastically reduce the number of Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, which many in Netanyahu’s camp have advocated.

It also coincided with the end of the short-term truce, which had briefly paused the bombing and ground campaign in Gaza, as Netanyahu rejected a mild plea from President Biden to extend the ceasefire, or at least to incorporate “humanitarian” concerns once the killing resumed. Members of Netanyahu’s coalition government insist there is no distinction between civilians and Hamas, thereby justifying the growing numbers of children and women killed. When Secretary of State Blinken raised with Israel’s war cabinet the need for humanitarian protection of civilians, his appeal was dismissed, and Netanyahu bragged that he was standing up against pressure from the U.S.!

As Israeli attacks are now covering all of Gaza, many believe only a strong intervention from the U.S. would stop Netanyahu. Could the growing resistance among American voters to Israel’s assault suffice to push Joe Biden to act, as his re-election prospects are in trouble, and support for his proxy war in Ukraine has dropped even further?

Should Biden decide to avert a worsening human tragedy, he could endorse a “two-state solution”, backed by a plan for economic reconstruction, as proposed by China.