An Israeli intelligence source said the prisoners in Gaza, where the Israeli military continues to attack, were “not the highest priority” and could not be rescued in a no-deal operation.
According to research conducted by the Tel Aviv-based website “+972” in collaboration with “Local Call”, based on intelligence sources, the Israeli military carried out “brutal” attacks in Gaza with little intelligence about where Israeli prisoners were being held. or measures regarding their security.
Intelligence sources confirmed that the intensive bombing in the first phase of the Israeli offensive on Gaza was carried out without clear information about where the prisoners were being held.
According to statements from Israelis and their families who were freed in a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, one of the greatest fears of the prisoners in Gaza was the threat of Israeli airstrikes and bombings.
The fact that many prisoners and their families revealed that they were not kept in the tunnels indicates that the prisoners in Gaza are vulnerable to Israeli attacks.
Referring to the first weeks of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, an intelligence source said: “The Israeli military carried out intense bombings with very little intelligence and destroyed half of Gaza.”
The source stated that the Israeli army “would not have deliberately killed prisoners if they knew they were in a certain building”, but “they carried out thousands of attacks knowing that the prisoners could also be wounded”.
Israeli Noam Dan, whose three relatives were kidnapped on October 7 and two of whom were released, also stressed that after the release of the first captives, the families discovered that most of what Israeli politicians told them about the whereabouts of the captives was not true.
“At first, government officials made it clear to us that the prisoners were in the tunnels and therefore would not be affected by the military bombardment,” Dan said.
Despite this, when the captives were released, they realized that most of them were above ground, in people’s homes. They added that they realized the government’s statements were wrong and said: “Everything we thought was right has come crashing down.”
Dan emphasized that he learned from talking to the released prisoners that “their real fear was to die or be wounded in the attacks of the Israeli army.”
Noam Dan also stated that there is evidence that the prisoners were hit during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
Another intelligence source said: “(In the Israeli attack on Gaza) In the first two or three weeks, we didn’t have enough intelligence on the prisoners and they were not the first priority,” adding: “At that time it was not our top priority, and the truth is that they are not even today. Unfortunately, I do not believe that the army will succeed (freeing the prisoners through a rescue operation). I don’t think we can release the prisoners without an agreement.”, AA writes.
