Israeli report into October 7 attacks uncovers security failings

The Israeli military published on Thursday the findings of a first probe into its own security failings during the devastating October 7 Hamas attack, acknowledging it hadn't protected the citizens of one of the worst hit communities, Kibbutz Be'eri.

More than 100 people were killed in the attack on Be'eri, a community of about 1,000 people, and 32 taken hostage to Gaza, 11 of whom are still there.

While acknowledging its own failure in protecting the kibbutz civilians, the military hailed the bravery of Be'eri residents, including its rapid response team, who despite being vastly outnumbered, tried to repel the militants who invaded.

Israel's military was unprepared for the scenario of a massive infiltration of militants into Israel, had inadequate forces in the area, did not have a clear picture of the events until noon, a few hours after the attack began, did not properly alert Be'eri's residents and its fighting was uncoordinated, the investigation found.

The probe, however, did not find fault in tank fire toward a house where militants were holding some 15 people hostage, an incident that has drawn criticism in Israel for having put civilians in harms way.

"After shooting was heard from the house and the terrorists announced their intent to kill themselves and the hostages, the forces decided to storm it in order to save the hostages," the military's summary said.

"The team found that the civilians inside the house were not hurt by the tank shells," the summary added, however, further investigation is needed to determine how hostages inside died, with signs pointing to them having been killed by the gunmen.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday called for a state inquiry into the security failings of the October 7 attack, which was Israel's deadliest day and the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

He said the probe should investigate Gallant himself and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has dismissed past calls to form a state inquiry.

Post-war Gaza prospects

Hamas is suggesting during ceasefire negotiations that an independent government of non-partisan figures run post-conflict Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a member of the Palestinian Islamist movement's political bureau said Friday.

"We proposed a non-partisan national competency government manage Gaza and the West Bank after the war", Hossam Badran said in a statement about the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas with mediation from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.

"The administration of Gaza after the war is a Palestinian internal matter without any external interference, and we will not discuss the day after the war in Gaza with any external parties", Badran added.

The government will "manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the initial phase after the war, paving the way for general elections" said the official, who did not want his name disclosed.

Badran's remarks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Israel retain control of the Philadelphi corridor, Gaza territory along the border with Egypt. This condition conflicts with Hamas's position that Israel must withdraw from all Gaza territory after a ceasefire.

Netanyahu said on Thursday that control of the Philadelphi corridor is part of efforts to prevent "weapons to be smuggled to Hamas from Egypt."

The negotiations are occurring in Doha, Qatar and Cairo, Egypt with the aim of bringing about a ceasefire in Gaza as well as the return of hostages still held there by Hamas.

Israeli strikes on Gaza

Israeli strikes killed another 32 people in the Gaza Strip, the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory said Friday, more than nine months into Hamas' conflict with Israel.

Fighting raged from the north to the south of the coastal territory as talks have continued towards reaching a truce and hostage-release deal.

Hamas militants seized the captives during their unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the conflict.

In a brief statement, Gaza's health ministry said "32 martyrs, a majority of them children and women, were taken to hospitals overnight, because of continued massacres" by Israeli forces.

Hamas media reported "more than 70 air strikes" in several parts of the territory. This included locations in Gaza City in the north, Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre, along with Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, Hamas said.

Israel's military on Friday said troops are continuing operations in Rafah, near the Egyptian border.

"Over the past day, the troops eliminated numerous terrorists in close-quarters combat and aerial strikes, and dismantled terrorist infrastructure in the area," a military statement said.

In central Gaza, troops killed an unspecified number of militants "who posed a threat" while soldiers "located a weapons production workshop" and "a large amount of funds used for terrorist activity," the statement said.

In far-northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun, Israeli aircraft struck targets in an area from which projectiles were fired into southern Israel on Thursday, the military added.

Shujaiya operation over 

Around 60 bodies were found under the rubble of a Gaza City neighbourhood, officials in the Hamas-run territory said Thursday, after Israel's military declared an end to its operation there. 

The upsurge in fighting, bombardment and displacement in the eastern district of Shujaiya came as talks were held in mediator Qatar towards a truce and hostage release deal.

U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters his administration was "making progress" towards a ceasefire agreement as he called for an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

His statement came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Israel retain control of key Gaza territory along the border with Egypt - a condition that conflicts with Hamas's position that Israel must withdraw from all Gaza territory after a ceasefire.

Gaza's civil defence agency said around 60 bodies had been found under the rubble in Shujaiya, after some of Gaza City's heaviest combat in months.

Hamas said Israel's operation there had left "more than 300 residential units and more than 100 businesses destroyed". 

Mohammed Nairi, a Shujaiya resident, said he and others returning to the neighbourhood had seen "immense destruction that defies description. All the houses were demolished."

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Ceasefire negotiations

Netanyahu's office confirmed its negotiating team, led by Mossad intelligence chief David Barnea, had returned to Israel following talks with mediators in Doha on Thursday.

Speaking after the team's return, Netanyahu said Israel needed control of the Palestinian side of Gaza's border with Egypt to stop weapons reaching Hamas.

He added that Israel must also be allowed to keep on fighting until its war aims of destroying Hamas and bringing home all hostages are achieved.

In Washington, Biden acknowledged "difficult, complex issues" remain between Israel and Hamas, but that progress was being made in reaching a ceasefire deal.

"There's a lot of things in retrospect I wish I had been able to convince the Israelis to do but the bottom line is we have a chance now. It's time to end this war," he said after a NATO summit.

The Washington Post had reported on Wednesday both Israel and Hamas had "signalled their acceptance of an 'interim governance' plan" in which neither would rule the territory and a U.S.-trained force of Palestinian Authority supporters would provide security.

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