Dream - Many Israeli citizens were still fast asleep when the surprising attack occurred. That day, Saturday, October 7, 2023, was the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. This means that many Israeli families would be spending time together at home or in the synagogue. Others would choose to meet with their friends to relax. However, as dawn began to break, a number of rockets started raining down on Israeli territory, signaling the start of a massive attack with a scale and coordination never seen before.

At 06:30 local time, rockets fired from Gaza began raining down on Israeli cities. The Hamas militant group, which controls Gaza, often employs this tactic. These rockets frequently struggle to penetrate Israel's sophisticated Iron Dome defense system. Therefore, thousands of rockets are fired rapidly and simultaneously to overwhelm Israel's Iron Dome defense.

The following 'Bahasa' text translated to 'English' while preserving any html tags: "This scale of attack shows a well-planned preparation that has been organized for months. Hamas said they fired 5,000 rockets in the first wave. Air raid sirens started to sound as far as Tel Aviv --approximately 60km from Gaza-- and west Jerusalem. Smoke can be seen rising above the cities directly affected by the rocket attacks. As rockets continue to be launched continuously, Hamas militia groups gather at pre-planned locations to breach the heavily guarded Gaza border."

Although Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, Israel still controls the airspace, borders, and coastline. In addition to routine military patrols around the perimeter or boundary - which consist of concrete walls in some places and fences in others - there is also a network of cameras and sensors to prevent attacks. Over the years, Israel has strengthened the barrier along the border between its territory and parts of the Palestinian territory in Gaza.

However, a few hours later, it was revealed that the barrier was easily penetrated. Hamas fighters proved capable of repeatedly breaching the barrier in many places. This attack by Hamas on Israel is the worst attack experienced since the Yom Kippur War on October 6, 1973. At that time, Israel was attacked by Egypt and Syria. In the war that lasted about 20 days, Israel was initially pushed back on both the northern and southern fronts before the United States eventually helped arm Israel and turned the tide.***

"How can Hamas penetrate the border? A number of Hamas members attempt to pass through the barrier at the border, including flying over it with paragliders and using boats to cross the sea. The Israeli military stated that they have thwarted two Hamas attempts to cross into Israel by landing ships on the coast. However, what sets these attacks apart is the coordination and direct targeting of specific points along the barrier."

"At 05:50 local time, a Telegram account affiliated with the Hamas wing organization uploaded the first image from the ground, taken at Kerem Shalom - the southernmost crossing of Gaza. They show the militants successfully raiding a checkpoint, with two Israeli soldiers' lifeless bodies covered in blood lying on the ground. Other pictures show at least five motorcycles, each carrying two armed militants with machine guns, passing through a hole in the previously cut wire fence."

In the border area with little supervision, a bulldozer can be seen destroying barbed wire fences. A number of seemingly unarmed individuals gather there, and some start running through the gap. In Erez - the furthest point in the north of the Gaza crossing, about 43.4 km from Kerem Shalom - Hamas breaches other crossing points. A video recording of the event was uploaded on one of Hamas group's communication channels.

The video shows an explosion on a concrete barrier, which serves as a signal to initiate an attack, and a militia member is then seen waving to a group of fighters towards the explosion site. Eight men wearing bulletproof vests and carrying assault rifles run towards a heavily guarded checkpoint and immediately open fire on Israeli forces. Later in the video, the body of an Israeli soldier is seen lying on the floor as the militia members move from one room to another. They appear to be highly organized and trained.

Gaza has seven official border posts - six of which are controlled by Israel, and one border crossing to Egypt controlled by Cairo. However, within a few hours, Hamas has found a way to enter Israeli territory through these border posts. Hamas attacks have proven to reach deep into Israeli territory. Hamas members are leaving Gaza in all directions. Now we have learned from Israeli authorities that they have attacked 27 different locations.

The farthest area penetrated by Hamas is the city of Ofakim, located 22.5 km east of Gaza. In Sderot, Hamas militants were seen standing behind an open truck driving through the city, which is located about 3 km east of Gaza. Around a dozen armed militants were seen scattered through the empty streets of Ashkelon, right north of the recently stormed Erez crossing. Similar scenes occurred in southern Israel and civilians were ordered by the military to hide inside their homes.

At a music festival held near Re'im, a number of armed men opened fire on a group of young festival-goers who had gathered in the desert. An eyewitness reported how the militants drove in a van filled with weapons and spent three hours in the area searching for other Israeli targets. Within a few hours of the rocket attack, hundreds of Israeli citizens lost their lives, in a way that no one could have ever imagined.

Help began arriving in the southern region that was hit by the disaster within hours. However, Hamas, for the time being, managed to control some areas outside of Gaza. The speed and timing of this sudden attack have surprised Israel. Questions about how this could happen will be asked for years to come.***

Commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas, Mohammed Deif, in a voice message that spread on that day, referred to the surprise attack "Operation Storm of Al-Aqsa" carried out by his forces as driven by the Zionist colonial occupation of his homeland, Palestine. "This is the day of anger of Al-Aqsa, the anger of our nation and our people has exploded. Our mujahideen, today is your day to make these criminals understand that their time is over," said Deif in the recording.

"This is the largest battle to end the last occupation in the world," said Deif, mentioning that his side has launched 5,000 rockets. Quoting the Middle East Monitor, Mohammed Deif mentioned that Hamas has warned Israel's occupation not to continue their crimes and to abide by international laws and resolutions. "The leaders of Israel's occupation evidently do not heed our demands," Deif said.

On the contrary, said Deif, Israel's occupation increases its crimes, violating all red lines, especially in occupied Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque - which is the first qibla and the third holiest site for Muslims. "Israeli occupation forces have escalated their attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, defiling the sacred site of Muslims and repeatedly attacking worshippers, especially women, children, and the elderly," he said.

"Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation prohibits Palestinian residents from accessing the Al-Aqsa Mosque and allows Israeli colonial settlers to defile the holy site of the Muslim community and carry out raids on the sacred complex every day," said Deif. The surprise attack made Mossad, as the world's most powerful intelligence agency, appear foolish. At least 250 people were killed and hundreds more injured in the Hamas attack that day."

The attack has caused 1,300 deaths in the worst attack on Israeli soil since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The attack and mass deaths are a major blow, especially to the credibility of Mossad, whose achievements in Israel and worldwide are highly legendary. With an annual budget of U$ 3 billion or Rp 47 trillion and 7,000 staff, Mossad is the second largest espionage agency in the West after the CIA.

David "Dadi" Barnea, who replaced Yossi Cohen as the head of Mossad in June 2021. He was chosen through a highly secretive process known only to a few individuals in the Israeli Prime Minister's office, the agency itself, and the Civil Service Advisory Committee, which examines and approves even the appointment of the Israeli Prime Minister. Mossad has several departments, but the details of its internal structure are mostly hidden. They not only have a network of informants and agents within Palestinian militant groups but also in hostile countries such as Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.

The following is the translation of the text from 'Bahasa' to 'English' while preserving any html tags: "The extensive intelligence network of spies provides them with deep knowledge of the movements of militant leaders, enabling them to carry out precise killings when necessary. Israel and Mossad's perfect success rate in thwarting external attacks has made the failure to anticipate Hamas' attack on Saturday increasingly peculiar."

The question that arises is how Hamas managed to stockpile thousands of rockets and missiles so close to its territory without being detected by Israeli intelligence. Or why the reliable Iron Dome missile defense system of Israel was unable to intercept all the rockets coming from Gaza. Despite the presence of high-tech security measures along the Gaza-Israel border, including surveillance cameras, ground motion sensors, and regular military patrols, a recent Hamas infiltration attack successfully demolished all those barriers.

The following is the translation of the text from 'Bahasa' to 'English', while preserving any html tags: "Video that appeared on social media shows a bulldozer demolishing part of the seemingly impenetrable 'iron wall' that marks the Israel-Gaza border. Hamas fighters managed to infiltrate through the fence, create a hole in the wire, and arrive by sea using boats and paragliders. The scale of the attack, the complexity of its execution, and the required coordination and planning over months raise serious questions about how and why Israel's nearly flawless intelligence agency failed to detect the attack."

Some people equate it with the 9/11 attack in New York, which had an impact not only on the CIA but also on the global intelligence network in general. It is no wonder that on the day after the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, "We are at war."***Not only did Hamas successfully kill hundreds of Israelis and injure thousands of others, they also took 100 Israeli citizens hostage. They are holding them and taking them to Gaza.

Hamas has also captured Israeli Army Corps Commander Nimrod Aloni after launching an attack using thousands of rockets on Saturday, October 7, 2023, local time. Hamas uploaded a photo of Nimrod Aloni wearing a black shirt while being escorted through the streets of Gaza city. Senior Hamas official, Mousa Abu Marzouk, conveyed this statement to Arab al-Ghad media on Sunday, October 8, 2023. The number of hostages is in addition to more than 30 people reportedly detained by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.

According to the leader of Islamic Jihad, Ziad al-Nakhala, on Sunday, his faction has detained more than 30 Israeli citizens who were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, after Hamas launched attacks against Israel. "The prisoners will not be released until all of our prisoners are freed," said al-Nakhala. He was referring to the thousands of Palestinian citizens who are currently imprisoned in Israeli jails.

During the rampage in southern Israel, Hamas fighters dragged dozens of prisoners back to Gaza. Among those held hostage were women, children, and elderly individuals. The exact number of captives is still unknown until announced by both groups of fighters. The kidnapping of Israeli citizens by Hamas was justified by the spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces. Lieutenant Colonel Richard stated in a press conference on Monday, October 9, 2023, that the hostages included elderly civilians, families, and children.

Hecht said that the Hamas attack last weekend had never happened before. He did not deny that Hamas members are still crossing the border and entering Israeli territory.

And what makes the public wonder, how could Mossad, the second most powerful and sophisticated intelligence agency in the world, fail to anticipate the Saturday morning attack by Hamas fighters. This is certainly perplexing. Because there were many Israeli civilian casualties on the first day of that surprising Hamas attack. An achievement by Hamas that should not be underestimated. Not even by history. (eha) Source: BBC, Middle East Monitor, NDTV, Al Jazeera, The Times of Israel