New confessions from the Chief of Staff of the occupation regarding the failures before the October 7 attack.

Israeli Channel 12 aired a new recording of former Chief of Staff of the Occupation Army, Herzi Halevi, in which he reveals his positions on the events and decisions leading up to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, admitting that the movement "deceived Israel for years."

The undated recording shows Halevi candidly describing the disregard for warnings, misjudgments within the security and military apparatus, and his personal accountability for these failures.

Halevi told the families of the victims of the attack that "it was a mistake to allow Hamas to govern Gaza," emphasizing that the policy of granting the movement control over civilian life and receiving external support was a strategic error.

He added that the movement was diverting other funds to enhance its military capabilities even while Israel was monitoring the arrival of aid to those in need only.

Halevi explained that "Hamas created a complex deception mechanism" that relied on fronts related to work permits, aid, and infrastructure projects, convincing Israeli and international parties that the movement was focused on civilian affairs and not interested in military escalation.

He said: "They managed to convince everyone, the mediators, our leadership, the army, intelligence, the Shin Bet, and the Mossad," noting that "one of the key elements of this deception was Hamas's control over the Islamic Jihad movement, which Israel interpreted as a desire to maintain calm."

According to Halevi, the Gaza War of 2021 (Guardian of the Walls) represented a turning point in favor of Hamas, but it was not understood as such by the Israeli leadership, which considered it a "great success," while the movement interpreted it differently and felt it had gained a new advantage.

He said: "We told ourselves it was a great success story, and that is what lulled us to sleep."

He added that Hamas had come to the conclusion that Israel did not want to send ground forces into Gaza, an assessment that encouraged it to continue developing its long-term plan for a large-scale attack, which it had been working on for years.

Halevi revealed that warnings were issued before the attack after an intelligence analyst noticed a sharp change in Hamas's training patterns, but the warning was not taken seriously enough.

He said: "It was a statement that should have concerned an intelligence officer in the division."

He also pointed out that the military establishment was convinced that the movement did not want conflict, especially after witnessing it punishing participants in protests near the border fence in the weeks leading up to the attack, stressing that "all of this was part of the process of lulled to sleep."

He noted that he received a call at 3:10 AM on the day of the attack regarding "suspicious signs" in Gaza, but the initial assessments of the army and the Shin Bet considered that "things were normal," before he made a note to himself: "Do not convince ourselves that nothing is happening," adding: "Maybe they canceled all our sensors and we don't know."

At 4 AM, he asked the commander of the southern region to enhance readiness, saying: "In the worst case, nothing will have happened."

Just two hours later, the attack began, with thousands of rockets launched and about 5,000 Hamas operatives crossing the border into Israel, resulting in the deaths of around 1,200 people and the capture of 251, who were taken to Gaza.

Halevi said: "The Israeli army failed," adding that he told the General Staff that morning: "I am the army commander and I am responsible," also emphasizing that "the responsibility is comprehensive," referring to the political leaders who shirked responsibility, asserting: "You are responsible for what you know and what you do not know, and you are responsible for the outcomes."

Despite advice not to take responsibility, Halevi said: "I don't care, I'm not in a race to see who takes more responsibility, I was the Chief of Staff that day, and I will carry this until the day I die."