A senior Biden administration official tells NBC News that “there is a growing divide between the US and Israel,” especially over a potential operation in Rafah.
The White House and State Department said last week that they would not support an IDF operation in the city before extensive planning was done on protecting civilians.
A senior IDF military intelligence official tells Israel Hayom that there is “heavy suspicion” that Hamas intelligence penetrated the Israeli military before October 7.
“Nukhba terrorists had information on the IDF’s most sensitive sites, including those within the army that are most classified,” the officer says. “We must determine how this information reached them. We are talking about details that IDF commanders don’t talk about even to their closest friends.”
Hamas enjoyed intelligence that couldn’t have been gleaned from drones or observation posts, the officer says, adding that help from a foreign power is entirely conceivable.
The IDF officer says that this would represent a “double failure” for the Shin Bet, which is responsible for uncovering Hamas’s plans and foiling its espionage attempts.
