BY; Ir. MUJTAHID HASHEM
Observer, World Intelligence and Security Researcher-Global Thinkers Institute (GTI). A Metallurgical engineer-University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
Operation Storm al-Aqsa started on Saturday morning, 7 October 2023. As of this writing, it is still ongoing and there seems to be no sign that the war will end quickly, in fact it could spread.
The Palestine Resistance Forces based in Gaza consist of Hamas with its military wing the Qassam Brigades, Islamic Jihad with its military wing the al-Quds Brigade, PFLP with the Abu Ali Musthafa Brigade and the Palestine Resistance Group (Muqawama Palestine).
The military operation led by Hamas versus the IDF aims to open the blockade of Gaza, liberate all Palestinian land and protect the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Attacked more than 50 Israeli military bases and military posts. The Gaza fighters' operation was quite successful and even managed to control several military bases and detain hundreds of soldiers and civilians with the aim of exchanging Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
The whole world was stunned and in deep shock, even Israel felt like it was a daydream. This can be seen from the cabinet meeting of the Israeli Zionist government and the IDF until 15 hours of operation had passed before they took the decision to call up 90,000 reserve troops and until finally the IDF called up 300,000 reserve troops to anticipate an escalation of the war.
As usual, Israel started his signature move; full blockade, turning off electricity, water supplies, food logistics supplies, and bombarding Gaza, not selecting targets, generally civilians became victims.
If we look at the results of the previous war and the success story of the first phase of Operation Storm al-Aqsa, of course Israel will reach a dead end and the results will be even worse for Israel. However, the IDF press conference looked confident after coordinating with US Central Command and NATO. The initial phase of the defeat was considered merely a failure, and Israel had not yet mobilized all its strength. The largest aircraft carrier in the world, USS Gerarld R. Ford has docked in the Eastern Mediterranean ready to help win Israel.
All military and intelligent experts in the world agree that Israel lost badly in the initial phase of Operation Storm al-Aqsa. Their astonishment and surprise at this operation foreshadowed defeat itself. Even Israel indirectly admitted defeat and this was seen in Netanyahu's first cabinet meeting, one of which was to form an investigation and evaluation team regarding the combined failure of all intelligence in anticipating an attack which greatly embarrassed the Israeli Zionist regime. This is natural because the consequence of defeat is the existence of Israel itself.
Officially recognized or not, even at the beginning of the Zionist cabinet meeting, Benjamin Netanyahu had handed over emergency rule unofficially to General Beny Gant as a response to survive and reverse the situation and this decision was proof of admitting defeat.
Israel's defeat began with the failure to detect early preparations of Palestinian fighters in Gaza. Gaza is a narrow area of about 365 square kilometers. Everyone in Gaza is under full surveillance, wiretapping, monitored by active intelligence and Israeli soldiers at the border and every check point. Many intelligent experts consider Israel's 8200 Intelligent Unit to be the most advanced in the world. This unit spent billions of dollars to design intelligent data collection capabilities by capturing every digital data traffic coming in and out of Gaza, telephone calls, SMS, emails, WhatsApp, Telegram and all social media etc.
According to Scott Ritter, Gaza is also the most photographed place on the planet using satellite, drone and CCTV imagery. Every meter of land in Gaza is estimated to be photographed every 10 minutes. Of course, this data is much beyond human ability to analyze, that's why this Unit also develops AI and builds sophisticated algorithms to process big data to serve intelligent needs. With sophisticated data support, Israel is confident of winning the battle and the final military operation in 2021.
All intelligent bodies in the world are amazed and dream of having the intelligent capacity that Israel has. Many admire and learn from Israel and adopt it, but it is strange why they failed to read the movement indicators and the al-Aqsa Storm Operation 7 October 2023. If we are honest, the superior intelligence unit of the Palestine Resistant Forces fighters beat Unit 8200 and the Israeli intelligent combination.
Various comments from foreign intelligence experts have commented on the burning of Israeli intelligence organizations; "Disaster, Havoc, Broken, Dead, Perish" is an image that sometimes cannot be understood by ordinary people like us. For these experts, damaged intelligence is like a blind man who wants to fight and this defeat damages the mentality of all Israeli military personnel.
The Israeli cabinet was caught in a very difficult situation, because it needed time to reorganize and at the same time forced conditions to go to war. The belief that Jews are superior and certain to win also adds to the psychological burden on the military and Jewish citizens. The defeat in the initial phase of the war really hit the Israeli people mentally, that's why the airports were filled with Jews who wanted to leave Israel.
Whether the condition is that serious, of course we will see how the war develops in the future, whether the solidarity of Israel's allies can restore Israel's mental condition.
The factor of Palestine's victory in the initial phase, in simple terms, we can read, the Palestine Resistance Forces Intelligent Unit in Gaza has a coordination and communication system that can avoid or deceive Israeli intelligent detection. Even though the initial phase of operations carried out by Palestinian fighters, as described by The Guardian, was like a movie, it required months of training and war simulations, but it was very strange that they could not be detected. Then Israel was also unable to detect all movements of the Palestine Resistance Forces troops. Not long before the attack on all Israeli military installations and military checkpoints and taking over several cities, on October 7, Palestinian fighters deployed the MLRS-multiple launch rocket system, ground troops, paragliders and other equipment. Because the Palestinian fighters' war preparations were not detected, a preemptive strike was not carried out by Israel.
The alarm and signal system at the border is not working. The electronic systems and equipment on the Gaza border with billions of dollars invested are useless. Massive cameras and sensors cannot detect and do not send any signals regarding attacks by Palestinian fighters, including army patrols that are very close cannot send any messages. Palestinian drones very easily attack automatic artillery and sensor towers and Palestinian troops casually blow up iron wire fences and cross the border.
No one tried to attack Palestinian fighters. And because of this, Palestinian troops attacked several military posts and military bases even when the Israeli army was still sleeping. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers died or were captured and even an Israeli general was taken from his bed while wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Meanwhile, on the Palestinian side, only one fighter was killed during the first day of operations. The viral video also shows the Merkava Mk.4 tank being destroyed by an FPV drone attacking its unprotected parts from above.
At the same time trophy active protection system does not work. One of the video clips also shows that the attack on the Merkava tank and the tank operator was carried out by Palestinian fighters and the automatic weapons were still closed. This shows personnel who were not ready and panicked because they might be forced forward by their commander. The result is that Israeli troops appear stupid and unprofessional.
There was indeed something hidden by Israel in the initial phase of the al-Quds Hurricane Operation. The Palestinian Resistance Forces not only attacked land, sea and air, they also carried out cyber attacks on telecommunications infrastructure and CCTV surveillance systems throughout Israel. This may be able to partially answer why there were no warning and communication signals from Israeli soldiers at checkpoints and military headquarters, at the same time the Palestinian military intelligence unit was able to build an independent communication and coordination system that Israel could not yet track and read.
This means that the contingency system did not work when a cyber attack occurred on the Unit 8200 installation. Due to the sophistication of this operation, even geopolitical commentators such as Pepe Escobar opened up the possibility that there was a deliberate intention by Israeli intelligence for a bigger war in the West Asia region. But this possibility is very small and difficult because the intelligent Mossad organization involves tens of thousands of personnel and it is impossible for all of them to remain silent, and free media control in Israel can make everything tweet and backfire. al-Aqsa's Operation Storm used unexpected tactics. In contrast to Israel's previous assumption or intelligent conclusion that Palestinian fighters avoided military fortifications and military posts, instead Palestinian fighters directly attacked military posts and bases where heavy artillery was inside, including tanks and armored vehicles, etc. What makes no sense is that Palestinian fighters do not use the tanks and armored vehicles they control at Israeli military bases. Palestinian fighters want fast mobility and not attract attention with ordinary cars.