JERUSALEM 

Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has openly admitted for the first time that it was surprised by the attack carried out by Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7 of last year.

“Israel's Mossad intelligence agency has admitted for the first time that it was surprised by the events of October 7, 2023,” Israeli security expert Yossi Melman wrote in Haaretz on Friday.

According to Melman, Mossad prepared a document for the new edition of the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center’s bulletin detailing the agency's activities during the war in the Gaza Strip.

"The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad, or in its official English name – Israeli secret intelligence service) was also surprised on the morning of the holiday of Simchat Torah (October 7) by the code red alert sirens that pierced the sky,” reads the document, according to Haaretz.

“While the admission might appear straightforward, its appearance in an official agency publication holds significant weight,” noted Melman.

He said it is clear that “every word in the Mossad document was approved by Mossad Director David Barnea."

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people. More than 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and over 78,500 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara