Leaked IDF Oct 7 probe shows shocking failures by troops to defend Israeli civilians from Hamas invasion

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has completed their investigations and is set to start presenting the results showing the army’s failures to protect Israeli border communities from the Hamas invasion on Oct. 7, 2023, this week, the IDF announced.

The investigations focused on the operational failures of the troops, not on political directives. The IDF also said that decisions over the personal responsibility of individual officers will be made when the incoming IDF chief of staff, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, has taken up his post.

The IDF will first present investigations into the conceptional failures leading up to the catastrophe, including the strategic view and the intelligence picture of the Gaza Strip in recent years, the military decisions on the night of Oct. 7, and the troops’ performance in the defensive battles during the invasions.

In a second phase, the IDF will present the results of 41 detailed probes of individual battles in the Gaza Envelope area, including in the kibbutzim Kfar Azza, Nahal Oz, Nir Oz, Netiv HaAsara, the IDF’s Nahal Oz outpost, and the Nova festival massacre.

While the presentations are scheduled to begin next week, Ynet News on Monday has already reported on some of the findings from the Kfar Azza probe.

The bottom line is that “the IDF failed to defend the kibbutz,” and the report lists several serious failures by IDF troops during the battle, including the accidental killing of three Israeli civilians.

According to Ynet, one of those killed had been abducted in his car, and was killed when soldiers opened fire believing both him and his abductor to be terrorists. The families of those killed in friendly fire accidents were informed by the IDF and were requested to withhold their names until the investigations were completed.

During the battle, the situation was highly chaotic, as no senior officer had taken charge of coordinating the more than 20 different IDF units deployed in the area.

The IDF also confirmed residents' allegations that troops arriving at the scene did not immediately engage the terrorists but instead remained outside the kibbutz awaiting orders.

However, the kibbutz officials stated that once the soldiers began fighting, they “fought like lions, some knowing they wouldn’t make it out alive. IDF troops saved lives and evacuated civilians.”

According to the probe, additional mistakes were made when the soldiers began evacuating civilians and clearing areas of the kibbutz. The investigation shows that some areas were cleared but then relinquished, allowing terrorists to return and continue abducting and murdering civilians.

Some residents were evacuated to a gas station just outside the kibbutz, which wasn’t properly secured, while terrorists were still nearby. Other residents were evacuated by bus along a route that hadn’t been secured, forcing the buses to travel through an active combat zone. The bus passengers escaped unharmed.

In response to a Ynet News report, the IDF stated, “The reported findings do not portray the official IDF investigation. The investigation has yet to be presented to the kibbutz community. The IDF urges the public to refrain from spreading unverified information before an official announcement and to respect the affected communities, bereaved families, and the families of the hostages.”

The first detailed investigation of an Oct. 7 battle was presented last July, when the IDF published the results of a probe into the battle at Kibbutz Be’eri. The IDF said the invasion began at 6:45 a.m., and by 9 a.m., the kibbutz was occupied.

The terrorists conducted an hours-long campaign of slaughter and kidnapping. Kibbutz Be’eri was declared completely safe only around 3 p.m. on Oct. 8.

The investigations in the report were scheduled to be presented last year but the IDF claimed that operational circumstances and the course of the war delayed them.

After Israel Katz was appointed Defense Minister in November, he pushed the army to present its reports before the retirement of current IDF chief Herzi Halevi.

The IDF also said it will continue to gather testimonies from returning hostages, for example, from the five female combat observers who were captured during the battle at Nahal Oz.