A member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, said Sunday that “traitors from within” might be behind the October 7 attack by Palestinian Resistance group Hamas, reports Anadolu Agency.
“Something stinks, I don’t know what we will find. That there were traitors within or a bunch of unprofessional people,” Tzvika Foghel, head of the National Security Committee, told Maariv newspaper, according to Anadolu.
Foghel said the Israeli intelligence couldn’t be totally unaware of what was going to happen on October 7.
“We got into the car of a nuclear scientist in Iran and killed him, yet we do not know what was happening in the Gaza Strip?” he said.
Israel is believed to have killed many Iranian scientists and military leaders, and that it has carried out numerous sabotage operations inside Iranian territories, or targeting Iranian interests in the Middle East.
Rarely, however, do Israeli leaders announce their responsibilities for these attacks, which, as of late, have been focused mostly on Iranian interests in Syria.
“Traitors within” may have had prior knowledge of the October 7 attacks on Israel, the country’s head of National Security Committee Tzvika Foghel says, adding that “the Israeli intelligence couldn’t be totally unaware of what was going to happen” https://t.co/QjZDIvqb8K
— TRT World (@trtworld) January 28, 2024
Investigation
The Israeli lawmaker said that an investigation must be launched into the October 7 events.
“When the head of the Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security agency) says that an investigation committee must be formed, there are many parties that worry about themselves instead of the future of the country,” Foghel added.
He said in case the conspiracy theory was wrong, “we would have to replace entire units in the army and generations of leaders.”
“They were not wrong in their views, they were simply irresponsible and unprofessional, and they did wrong to the State of Israel,” he said. “I prefer to think that someone betrayed us from within.”
“I cannot rule out that there is a conspiracy here. We cannot be so irresponsible, but I hope I am wrong,” Foghel continued.
Aqsa Flood
On October 7, the military wing of the Hamas movement, Al-Qassam Brigades, carried out a major attack against Israeli occupation forces and settlements surrounding besieged and occupied Gaza, killing hundreds.
Israeli Knesset member says ‘traitors from within’ might be behind Hamas attack
Tzvika Foghel says Israeli intelligence couldn’t be totally unaware of Hamas attack on Oct. 7https://t.co/HNfnzcoaF0— Not Given 🍁 (@Can_ada) January 29, 2024
Gaza, which has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967 has also been living under a strict Israeli military siege for the last 2017. Its 2.3 million inhabitants have suffered immensely as a result of the siege and recurring Israeli wars which killed thousands.
Following the Hamas attack on October 7, known as Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, Israel carried out what is being recognized by many legal experts as a genocide.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 26,637 Palestinians have been killed, and 65,387 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(PC, AA, MEMO)