Al- Aqsa Storm: How Hamas surprise attack became 'historic failure' for Israeli intelligence

Hamas, a Palestinian group, launched an unprecedented onslaught on Israel on Saturday, shooting thousands of rockets into the country from the Gaza Strip as dozens of fighters crossed the strongly guarded border by air, land, and sea.

According to Middle East specialist David Khalfa, the offensive entirely caught the nation off guard and marked a "historic failure" for Israeli intelligence services, France 24 reported.

Hamas was still engaged in gunfights within various Israeli communities close to Gaza some hours after the incursion started. 

According to Israel's national rescue agency, the attack was the bloodiest in the nation in years with at least 100 fatalities and hundreds of injuries.

The conflict between Israel and Palestinian fighters in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which are both parts of the territory where Palestinians have long hoped to form a state, is on the rise.

It also occurs during a period of political turmoil in Israel, which has been torn apart by bitter disagreements over recent efforts to reform the judiciary.

According to David Khalfa, co-director of the North Africa and Middle East Observatory at the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, a French think tank, Hamas is exploiting Israel's weakness to carry out its lethal "Operation Al-Aqsa Storm."

"The attack is unprecedented both in terms of its scale and its sophistication. Since the Yom Kippur War [on October 6, 1973, an Arab coalition of Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur – the Jewish holy day of atonement, Ed.], Israel has never been confronted with a full-scale ground invasion [like this]," he said.

"We are talking about Hamas commando forces – special forces operating deep inside Israeli territory – with a modus operandi of a real army. Hardened by battle, they are trained and equipped with modern tactical resources and fight in several places at a time," he added.

Why did Israeli intelligence services not see this coming?

Perhaps the most comprehensive and well-funded intelligence services in the Middle East are found in Israel.

It has spies and agents in Palestinian organisations as well as in Lebanon, Syria, and other places.

It has executed well-timed killings of Palestinian leaders in the past, intimately aware of all their activities.

These have occasionally been carried out using drone strikes after agents have installed a GPS tracker on a person's automobile, and in the past, even exploding mobile phones.

On the ground, there are cameras, ground-motion sensors, and frequent army patrols along the sensitive border barrier between Israel and Gaza.

David Khalfa further said, "It is a major failure for the Israeli intelligence services. A failure that could even be described as historic and without exaggerating, could be compared to what happened in 1973."

"Israel is a country that is on permanent alert, ready to go into battle at any time. It is always on its toes. It is clear that there was a certain degree of unpreparedness, probably an error in the analysis and estimation on the part of Israeli intelligence services, but also in the preparation of Israeli special forces [for an attack like this]," he added.