IDF releases its first probe into October 7 failures as the Shejaiya raid ends

[Valin]

FDD's Long War Journal

Seth Frantzman

July 11, 2024

The Israel Defense Forces IDF) released the first of what is expected to be numerous inquiries into specific battles and operational failures that took place during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The first inquiry focuses on the battle for Kibbutz Beeri, where Hamas killed 101 civilians and took 30 hostages. Along with the massacre at the Nova Music Festival and attacks on several other Kibbutzim along the border, Beeri experienced one of the worst death tolls in a single location on October 7.

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One of those communities near the border is Kibbutz Beeri. The IDF’s inquiry into the failure to protect this kibbutz was presented to surviving community members and then released to the public on July 11. During the battle to re-take Beeri from approximately 340 terrorists who had infiltrated, the IDF concluded that 31 security personnel were killed, including 23 IDF soldiers and members of the civilian rapid response team, and eight officers of the Israel Police.

The IDF inquiry concluded that Israeli forces were “not prepared for the extensive infiltration scenario that occurred on October 7th, involving multiple infiltration points by thousands of terrorists attacking dozens of locations simultaneously.”

No reserve forces were available for many hours as the Kibbutz was attacked. This meant the kibbutz was primarily defended by its local, lightly armed civilian volunteer security team from 6:30 in the morning until roughly 1:30 pm. Not until the afternoon did enough IDF reinforcements arrive to finally outnumber the terrorists who had infiltrated the community.

More reports will follow the inquiry into the battle for Beeri in the coming months. They will likely present similar findings in terms of the forces on the border not being prepared for such a large attack at so many points. However, in other areas, the attackers were stopped, and massacres were prevented, often by the quick action of local security teams.