A top Israeli military commander visited the site of the Nova music festival that came under attack on 7 October, but took “no preemptive action” despite receiving prior intelligence warnings, Haaretz reported on 2 September.
Lieutenant Colonel Haim Cohen, commander of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, “arrived at the site after receiving prior intelligence warnings, but he took no preemptive action,” the Haaretz report said.
Cohen saw the huge crowds at the music festival and noted that only a small number of police officers were present, according to the report. But he told army investigators he had no information that would have forced him to act differently or disperse the festival.
Haaretz said it is unclear exactly what kind of intelligence information Cohen was informed of.
“It was a mistake not to consider canceling or dispersing the festival during the divisional assessment held that night,” says an army investigation obtained by the Israeli newspaper.
The investigation also said that Cohen made a miscalculation when he did not assign a military force to the site, given the size of the crowd, the timing, and the location.
Cohen arrived at the site of the Nova festival at 5:30 am, about an hour before the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Cohen was updated on the intelligence that was arriving as he was driving to the site.
Throughout the night before the Hamas operation began, the Israeli army, military intelligence, and Shin Bet were receiving signs of “unusual” Hamas activity, as has been previously reported.
Cohen “saw a force of the Yamam counterterrorism unit and another police vehicle positioned on Route 232,” but told army investigators that the increased police presence reassured him that the event was secure. However, the probe revealed only 50 officers were there, and that several had left by the time the attack started.
“Even after Cohen arrived at the division’s base, and despite escalating alerts, he did not mention the festival in situation briefings nor change the military’s preparedness to secure it.”
“Most sector forces were unaware it was taking place and therefore lacked knowledge … This information, however, was fully available to Cohen and fresh in his memory,” the report went on to say.
Several reports have emerged since the war in Gaza began, revealing that Israeli authorities ignored multiple warnings about Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
Just weeks after resistance fighters flooded into the Israeli settlements surrounding Gaza, the Times of Israel cited eyewitness accounts from soldiers in Israel’s Combat Intelligence Corps, which is responsible for surveilling the Gaza border.
They said warnings of Hamas training for such an attack were issued at least three months prior.
Hellbound and Down 