Israeli army sends 4 warning letters to Netanyahu ahead of Hamas' attack

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had received four different warning letters from the Military Intelligence Directorate before the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 last year, Israeli state-owned Kan TV news reported, said Xinhua.

According to the IDF, "the four letters, sent between March and July last year, illustrated how Israel's enemies in all arenas viewed the harm to cohesion in Israel and the IDF in particular."

The reference was included in the IDF's official reply to Israel's non-governmental organization Hatzlacha after the latter applied for information disclosure from the military under the law.

The Prime Minister's Office rejected the IDF claim in a statement, saying it was "the opposite of the truth."

It mentioned that "two references in four intelligence documents pointed out that Hamas did not want to attack Israel from the Gaza Strip and that it favored a peaceful arrangement."

It also claimed that "all security bodies consistently supported these assessments that Hamas was not interested in escalation but in reaching an arrangement with Israel and that Hamas was deterred."

Later on Thursday, Israeli war cabinet member and minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz said he would soon submit a proposal to the government to establish a state commission of inquiry for the Oct. 7 incident.

Last month, Aharon Haliva, head of Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate, resigned due to his "leadership responsibility" over Hamas' unexpected attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, while Netanyahu has remained in office despite the opposition's demand for his resignation.