BICOM

What’s happened: The IDF yesterday released its report into events at Kibbutz Beeri on October 7^th. The army, it found, “failed in its mission to protect the residents of Kibbutz Beeri.”

• The report, overseen by former commander of the Gaza Division Maj. Gen. (res.) Mickey Edelstein, represents a damning indictment of the speed and nature of the Israeli response, and the extent to which the residents of the kibbutz were left undefended for several hours.
• It concluded that the army was prepared only for “single intrusion” attacks, and was unready for the type of multi-location assault initiated by Hamas. It also found that despite kibbutz security personnel relaying information to the army early in the day, the IDF was not able to ascertain of what was unfolding until much later. The report also noted that, in some cases, troops waited for their commanders to arrive before engaging.
• Among the more shocking findings are that in some instances troops acted against protocol and treated or evacuated fellow soldiers before civilians.
• The slow pace of the IDF’s response meant that by 1330 in the afternoon, seven hours after Hamas terrorists first attacked the kibbutz, only 26 Israeli fighters were fighting around 340 terrorists. By the time further numbers arrived, the majority of the kibbutz’s victims had already been killed.
• The report found that “combat in the area during the initial hours was characterised by a lack of command and control, a lack of coordination, and a lack of order among the different forces and units. This led to several incidents where security forces grouped at the entrance to the kibbutz without immediately engaging in combat.”
• The report also pays tribute to the residents of Kibbutz Beeri and its own security team, who combined to hold the terrorists off for several hours.
• Of an incident in which tank fire was directed at the home of kibbutz resident Pessi Cohen, in which Hamas had taken a large number of residents hostage, the report finds that, to the best of its understanding, the tank fire did not cause deaths inside the house (rather, Hamas killed the hostages), but that further investigations were needed.
• IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Hagari said of the report last night that, “the IDF failed in its mission to defend the residents of Kibbutz Beeri. It is difficult and painful for me to say this. We were not there for long hours of fighting. For hours, the residents of Beeri defended their families with their bodies, alone, facing the terrorists.”

In the south: The IDF continues operations against Hamas across the Gaza Strip. It has expanded an evacuation order to cover the entirety of Gaza City while issuing a notice saying it will be suspending inspections along two roads in Gaza City, in the north of the Gaza Strip, to allow civilians to reach humanitarian zones more easily and quickly as the city “will remain a dangerous combat zone”.

• The IDF’s 99^th Division has begun operating in Gaza City again, and located lathes used to manufacture weapons as well as cash said to belong to terrorist groups.
• In Rafah, troops of the IDF’s 162^nd Division have killed a number of gunmen and called airstrikes in on enemy targets.
• Following an attempted rocket attack on the southern communities of Holit, Kerem Shalom, Dekel Yated, Yevul, Sdei Avraham, and Avshalom, the IDF has responded with joint ground and aerial strikes to eliminate the responsible terrorists. Rockets were also fired from the northern district of Beit Hanoun which landed in open areas and did not cause any injuries.

In the north: Hezbollah continues its heavy barrage of Israel’s north.

• An IDF reservist, Sgt. First Class (res.) Valeri Chefonov, 33, was killed yesterday by a Hezbollah explosive drone near Kibbutz Kabri in the Western Galilee.
• This morning, several drones were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory and fell in the Western Galilee area. A number of other suspicious aerial targets were identified approaching Israeli territory from Lebanon and successfully intercepted by the IDF. An anti-tank guided missile fired from Lebanon has also struck the civilian community of Shtula, causing some damage to a local bed and breakfast.
• The IDF continues to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, both proactively and in response to specific attacks. These strikes have targeted Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in the areas of Yarine and Ramyeh, and terrorist infrastructure sites in the areas of Jibbain and Tayr Harfa.
• During a situational assessment in the north yesterday, IDF Chief of Staff Halevi said: “When your enemy is struggling, don’t turn around… in order to dismantle the enemy further, and we are making it more difficult in order to increase the chances of reaching good conditions, to bring back the hostages, this is a very, very important matter.”
• A single rocket has been fired from Syria which landed in an open area in the Golan Heights, causing no injuries or damage. The IDF has responded by striking a Syrian military base in the southern town of Tasil. It is unclear which group was responsible for this rocket strike.

Context: Beeri was one of the deadliest sites of Hamas’s rampage of murder on October 7^th. From a community of around 1,000, 101 civilians were killed, along with 31 members of the security forces. 32 people were also kidnapped, 11 of whom remain in Gaza.

• The report is one of many the IDF has carried out, with further reports addressing the day’s events at other sites forthcoming. The aims of reports like these are to provide answers to the survivors and those who lost loved ones, for the IDF to learn from its mistakes, and to aid in the process of rebuilding trust between the army and the Israeli public.
• The damning verdict of the Beeri report has increased the pressure on the government to conduct a full national commission of inquiry into the state’s conduct in the leadup to, and on the day of, October 7^th. The IDF’s inquiries have a remit to investigate only the military’s response, and not failures at the political or intelligence levels.
• Defence Minister Gallant added to calls for a commission of inquiry yesterday, saying “it must investigate me, and the prime minister and the chief of staff.” Opposition leaders called yesterday for an immediate inquiry, newly-appointed Labour Party leader Yair Golan saying that the Beeri report was “a drop in the ocean” compared to what a state commission could find.
• The US, meanwhile, has released approximately half of the heavy bombs it has withheld from Israel since May over concerns that they would be used in densely populated parts of the Gaza Strip. Close to 1700 500-pound bombs are now en route to Israel.
• Chefonov’s death follows the deaths on Tuesday of husband and wife, Noa and Nir Barnes, from Kibbutz Ortal, who were killed when their car took a direct hit from a Hezbollah rocket in the northern Golan Heights.
• The assessment remains that both Iran and Hezbollah are keen to maintain their war of attrition, but to keep it below the threshold of all-out war.
• Whilst Hezbollah has a massive stockpile of rockets, it is running short of anti-tank missiles and is looking to Iran for resupplies.

Looking ahead: Ongoing operations in Gaza continue against the backdrop of hostage negotiations. The Israeli negotiation delegation arrived in Cairo last night to continue talks with Egyptian, Qatari, and US counterparts. Sources continue to express cautious optimism over the prospects for a successful conclusion.