In the aftermath of the October 7 terror attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received warnings beforehand. He did not conceal this, openly discussing it in a Knesset session in April 2017.
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During the discussion, he detailed the events that unfolded six years later—a mass infiltration of terrorists, seizure of settlements and military outposts, murder, and the abduction of civilians. "I thought that an infiltration of a thousand or more terrorists, the capture of a settlement, or the abduction of citizens would be a moral blow. I defined it as such. However, we tried to avoid war," Netanyahu stated at the time.
On April 19, 2017, a stormy debate occurred in the Knesset's State Control Committee, with Prime Minister Netanyahu present, regarding the State Comptroller's report on Operation Protective Edge. The discussion, intended to be substantive, escalated into a heated argument between bereaved parents and Knesset members.
"The operational plan that Hamas devised involved a multifaceted integrated attack. Primarily, it began with an aerial assault—a rocket attack comprising thousands of missiles—targeting Israeli cities. Simultaneously, there was a maritime assault employing naval commando forces. In the air, they utilized parachute units, and on land, they infiltrated through dozens of tunnels they had dug. Some of these tunnels had already breached our territory. They deployed special forces, trained for such operations, aimed at capturing and killing both civilians and IDF soldiers and reclaiming territories back to Gaza," stated Netanyahu.
He added, "Hamas estimated that if they surprised us, they could execute this plan at any given moment. And unfortunately, we do not control the decisions of the adversary." The Prime Minister also mentioned that Israel could influence Hamas's capabilities to carry out these intentions, and to a large extent, that's what Israel did.
"We tried to avoid war. We have a very formidable enemy, and it's not a trivial matter. There are 30,000 terrorists there who seek our destruction, and they are constantly preparing for it. They are building the tools to kill us, penetrate us, and attack us—people committed to the eradication of Israel," Netanyahu emphasized.