'Israeli intel warned of Hamas plans before October 7'
An Israeli intelligence brief prepared weeks before Hamas's October 7 attack had warned military officials of the Palestinian group's preparations for an assault, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan. The Israeli military's signals intelligence unit drafted the brief in September, less than a month before the Hamas attack that sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, Kan reported on Monday. It said the Unit 8200 intelligence document included details of elite Hamas fighters training for hostage-taking and plans for raids on military positions and Israeli communities in southern Israel. The brief said the Palestinian militants were aiming to take hundreds of hostages, Kan reported. "The expected number of hostages: 200-250 people", the brief said according to Kan. The unprecedented Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on Israeli official figures. Militants also took 251 people hostage, 116 of whom remain in Gaza including 41 the army says are dead. Israel's retaliatory military offensive since October 7 has killed at least 37,372 people in the Gaza Strip, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. According to Kan, citing unnamed security officials, the brief was known to intelligence officials in the military's Gaza Division and Southern Command.  Israeli politicians have rebuffed calls for a thorough investigation into intelligence failures surrounding the Hamas attack, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted any official probe should wait until after the war, now in its ninth month. The Israeli military however said it was "investigating the events" of October 7, with a probe being "actively carried out" that would later be made public. (AFP)