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NYT Investigation Finds IDF Unprepared for Hamas’s October 7 attack
IDF begins deploying a new precision-guided munition dubbed ‘Iron Sting’. Photo: IDF
i24 News – According to a New York Times investigation, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly lacked a structured response plan for a potential invasion scenario by Hamas during an attack on October 7.
The investigation, based on interviews with soldiers and officers, revealed that there was either no established plan or it was not practiced or followed.
The IDF believed that Hamas would unlikely breach the Israel-Gaza border extensively, resulting in reduced monitoring of Hamas radio traffic and a perception that such an attack was improbable.
However, following the October 7 incident, where Hamas breached the fence in 30 different points and moved rapidly toward communities bordering Gaza, the extent of the situation became clear. The IDF and Israeli security forces reportedly took hours to comprehend the magnitude of the attack.
Soldiers’ responses were described as impromptu, with communication occurring through WhatsApp groups and reliance on social media for information. Even helicopter pilots were reportedly guided by media reports and Telegram channels to target the responsible terrorists.
The investigation depicted a lack of organized response, with IDF units near Gaza reportedly unprepared and inadequately trained for such a scenario.
Furthermore, delays in recognizing the gravity of the invasion were noted, with an official order for emergency forces to move coming hours after the attack began.
Soldiers found themselves fighting without proper coordination or awareness, resulting in instances where bases were abandoned, soldiers were unaware of attacks until Hamas was in their sleeping quarters, and information about the invasion reaching units hours after the event had started.
The New York Times investigation also highlighted civilians, like Rafael Hayun, aiding soldiers by forwarding messages from civilians under fire, indicating a lack of awareness within some units about attacks on neighboring areas.
The post NYT Investigation Finds IDF Unprepared for Hamas’s October 7 attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rights Group Files Lawsuit to Block Trump Deportations of Anti-Israel Protesters
Marco Rubio speaks after he is sworn in as Secretary of State by US Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a lawsuit challenging as unconstitutional the Trump administration’s actions to deport international students and scholars who protest or express support for Palestinian rights.
The lawsuit, filed on Saturday in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, seeks a nationwide temporary restraining order to block enforcement of two executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump in the first month of his term.
The lawsuit comes after the detention of a Columbia University student, Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old permanent US resident of Palestinian descent, whose arrest sparked protests this month.
Justice Department lawyers have argued that the US government is seeking Khalil’s removal because Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reasonable grounds to believe his activities or presence in the country could have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” Rubio on Friday said the United States will likely revoke visas of more students in the coming days.
Trump vowed to deport activists who took part in protests on US college campuses against Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza following the October 2023 attack by the Palestinian terrorists.
The ADC lawsuit was filed on behalf of two graduate students and a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who say their activism and support of the Palestinian people “has put them at serious risk of political persecution.”
“This lawsuit is a necessary step to preserve our most fundamental constitutional protections. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech and expression to all persons within the United States, without exception,” said Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the ADC.
Chris Godshall-Bennett, the group’s legal director, said the litigation seeks immediate and long-term relief “to protect international students from any unconstitutional overreach that stifles free expression and deters them from fully engaging in academic and public discourse.”
The lawsuit centers on three Cornell University plaintiffs: a British-Gambian national and PhD student with a student visa; a US citizen PhD student working on plant science; and a US citizen novelist, poet, and professor in the Department of Literatures in English.
The post Rights Group Files Lawsuit to Block Trump Deportations of Anti-Israel Protesters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Informs Shin Bet Chief to Vote on His Dismissal Next Week
Israel’s Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar speaks at Reichman University in Herzliya on Sunday, September 11, 2022. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet security agency, that he will bring a vote before his government to dismiss him next week.
The post Netanyahu Informs Shin Bet Chief to Vote on His Dismissal Next Week first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Houthis Claim to Attack US Aircraft Carrier, Retaliating for Strikes
Newly recruited fighters who joined a Houthi military force intended to be sent to fight in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, march during a parade in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 2, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Houthis claimed on Sunday that they targeted the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and other vessels in the northern Red Sea with 18 ballistic and cruise missiles and a drone. Military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that the US-led attacks against the Houthis on Saturday comprised of more than 47 airstrikes on seven governorates, with the death toll expected to rise.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to target all American warships in the Red Sea and in the Arabian Sea in retaliation to the aggression against our country,” Saree said, vowing the Houthis “will continue to impose a naval blockade on the Israeli enemy and ban its ships in the declared zone of operations until aid and basic needs are delivered to the Gaza Strip.”
The post Houthis Claim to Attack US Aircraft Carrier, Retaliating for Strikes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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