JERUSALEM (VINnews) — As the IDF continues to release its internal investigations of the response on Oct. 7th, numerous strategic failures continue to be revealed. On last Saturday night, parts of the investigation were published, painting a shocking picture of the extent of the failure in command and control within the IDF. According to the investigation, hundreds of soldiers were deployed to the scenes in Sderot and Ofakim after they had already been cleared—while in the kibbutzim and communities of the Gaza envelope, civilians were fighting Hamas terrorists with far fewer forces.
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The large numbers of soldiers who did arrive in the Gaza border area could have changed the course of battle in the kibbutzim and communities. However, most of them remained in locations where their presence was unnecessary, and a significant number of those deployed did not fire a single shot (!) on one of the bloodiest days in Israel’s history.
Troop Deployment in Sderot on the Morning of the Massacre – Minute by Minute:
06:45 – A Toyota pickup truck loaded with terrorists drives through Sderot, shooting at a police vehicle. From that point, many forces begin to flow into Sderot.
Around 09:00 – Fighting across Sderot ends, except for the terrorists barricaded in the police station.
10:30 – The Paratroopers’ training school, which was dispatched to Sderot, continues to conduct sweeps in the city. At the same time, buses carrying 450 Rotem Battalion soldiers (Givati) arrive from the Golan Heights. Meanwhile, at this hour (10:30) in Kfar Aza, the first wave of terrorists has already returned to Gaza, while the next wave—preparing to enter—is kidnapping 19 kibbutz members, murdering others, and committing horrific atrocities.
11:00 – 600 soldiers are stationed in Sderot, where no active fighting remains. Meanwhile, across all the Gaza envelope communities, there are only 200 to 250 soldiers (!) facing thousands of terrorists.
Troop Deployment in Ofakim on October 7:
06:45 – 22 terrorists from Hamas’ elite Nukhba unit arrive in Ofakim and begin a killing spree before barricading themselves in the home of David and Rachel Edri, who were later rescued in a daring Yamam (special forces) operation late at night.
09:30 – Ofakim is completely cleared of terrorists except for those barricaded in the Edri home. At the same time, hundreds of soldiers from the Dekel Battalion (Officer Training School) arrive in the city. Initially, they were ordered to head toward the Sa’ad Junction, near Kfar Aza and Nahal Oz—where the massacre was still unfolding. However, at the last moment, the Southern Command’s Operations Officer ordered them to Ofakim instead, without informing the division command.
13:30 – The troops from the officer training school continue sweeping through the city but do not fire a single shot (!). Around 600 IDF soldiers and security forces are in Ofakim at this time. Meanwhile, in Nahal Oz, massacres, kidnappings, and looting by terrorists continue throughout the kibbutz. A handful of residents and soldiers (!) try to return fire.
Troop Deployment at 13:30 Across the Gaza Envelope:
Only about 350 soldiers and security personnel were fighting in the various communities and kibbutzim—at a massive numerical disadvantage.
In Kibbutz Nir Oz, for example, the last looters left the kibbutz without a single IDF bullet being fired at them (!).
It took seven hours from 06:29 before large IDF forces finally arrived in the Gaza envelope, senior commanders distributed sectors, took command of the fighting in the communities and kibbutzim, turned the tide, and began restoring Israeli control over the overrun settlements.
Until then, there was a catastrophic failure in command and control, a lack of coordination between forces, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation—one that was clearly visible to the public through the media but was not grasped in IDF command centers or over military communication networks.
Yet Sderort and Ofakim get overrun by terrorists. Thus we see clearly that this was all from Hashem, and nothing the IDF could have done to prevent anything.
Here’s my 2 cents:
There are reports that border watchers were sounding the alarm months before Oct. 7th, and nothing was done. It’s also said that if a bird flies over the border, the army knows about it. The only explanation (IMO) is that the fifth column* that the Rebbe warned against, infiltrated and helped Hamas.
The Rebbe, in speaking very intensely and crying for mi Yehudi/ger k’halacha, warned that accepting goyim under the Right of Return, would result in a fifth column – A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation.
It was clearly an inside job
Maybe the Shin Daled wanted to teach those southerners a lesson.