Israeli Military Intelligence Caught Unprepared by Palestinian Shock Offensive: Expert

Israeli military intelligence was caught unprepared by the Palestinian shock offensive, Retired Brig. Gen. Dr. Meir Elran, a senior research fellow and head of three security programs at the Institute for National Security Studies at the country's Tel Aviv University, told Sputnik.

"They have been trying to deceive and to hide this from us. And apparently they were successful. And this just shows you that here in this neighborhood, here in the Middle East, anything can happen. Even those things that you do not really predict will happen," Elran said.

In addition, the expert stressed that if it was not for the Israeli Iron Dome system, that allegedly intercepted over 90% of Hamas' rockets, the situation would have been much worse.

"Iron Dome, its performance is very successful. The fact that they have launched, as I said before, more than 3,000 rockets and mortars against Israel since this morning. We're talking about something like 7 hours, which means that they have quite a capacity of launching such a large number of rockets and mortars. I don't have the exact numbers, but I think that more than 90% of them have been intercepted by the Iron Dome. Just imagine, that we didn't have the Iron Dome. If The Iron Dome was not so successful and so capable to intercept their rockets and missiles - that would have been a disaster," the researcher highlighted.

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Speaking about the Israel's further actions, Elran underlined that the country's response will be "as fierce as possible."

"And really big question is - what happens with Hamas, following this kind of Israeli counteroffensive, which will, I'm sure, be as fierce as possible and also long and damaging. So this is the second stage," he emphasized.

Commenting on the situation, which could occur if other regional actors "get into the picture," the expert underscored that this would lead to a serious instability in the Middle East.

"But if other forces in the region [...] gets into the picture, that will be, of course, a completely different kind of story. Much broader, much more challenging both for us and also for the other side. Which will mean, of course, that the Middle East will flare up. Because this is going to be a very, very serious affair, very dangerous and causing lots of unstable consequences in the Middle East, which adds up to my conclusion that, unfortunately, despite the attempts on many sides to stabilize the situation in the Middle East, it is not only failing, but it might even bring new obstacles to the stability in the Middle East. This is a very, very serious consequence," he revealed.

As a result of the Hamas' attack, over 1,100 people were reportedly injured in Israel and about 150 were killed. As for the casualties in Palestine, the death toll there reaches 198 people, with more than 1,600 wounded, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

In response to 3,000 rockets sent from the Gaza Strip to Israel and the following infiltrating to the country's territory, the Israeli authorities announced war against Hamas. The Palestinian organization responded by continuing the rocket barrages.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in turn, during a meeting with a number of officials, instructed them to ensure that the Palestinian people are able to defend themselves against Israeli troops and settlers.

Elaborating on the reasons of the Hamas' operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Palestinian Minister of Social Development Ahmed Majdalani emphasized that the current aggravation of the situation is "a natural result of the Israeli occupation policy and the blocking of the political perspective by the [the country's Prime Minister] Netanyahu givernment."