During a recent visit by senior IDF officers to various brigade headquarters, a troubling revelation came to light. It became apparent that surveillance camera footage along the Gaza border, dating back to the day the war with Hamas broke out, had mysteriously vanished. Furthermore, critical recordings from that Black Shabbat had been removed from the central database. These developments have raised suspicions and fueled a sense that everyone is primarily looking out for their own interests with an eye on what comes next.
The IDF’s official statement on this issue is that the videos were not deleted, but rather restricted to authorized personnel.
Teams were tasked with analyzing the lessons learned from the war and studying Hamas’s operational strategies. Their objective was to disseminate this knowledge among the combat units of the various divisions.
Addressing the concerns
Simultaneously, investigation teams were set up for the “day after,” focused on aiding in the planning of the border area and the security measures designed to protect the municipalities.
Reserve officers also voiced their concerns about the apparent disappearance of crucial video footage.
These videos originated from various IDF surveillance cameras along the Gaza border, part of the military network known as “ZiTube.” The missing footage dated back to October 7 and seemed to have been deliberately removed to hinder in-depth investigation into events that transpired in Palestinian territory, border breaches, and the overall situation.
One senior reserve officer from a brigade recounted the situation, saying, “We had planned to show one of the key figures a video of a particular incident from last week, only to discover that someone had deleted the videos.
It was a highly embarrassing situation, and it subsequently led to suspicions about the motivations behind these actions. Eventually, special permissions were granted to those who requested them.
“The question arises: Do officers at our level require such permissions? It appears as if there’s a power struggle among high-ranking officials and those with specific roles, with a general sense that everyone is now prioritizing their interests for what lies ahead.”
Disrupted recordings and deliberate decisions
Sources within the Gaza Division also revealed a “disruption” in the recordings of communications from October 7.
According to these sources, “Some of the recordings have either disappeared or were simply downloaded from the network and relocated under the directives of commanding officers. Consequently, we are unable to access them.
“Communication recordings are typically deleted after a specific period, unless someone intentionally preserves them within the system, and there exists such a functionality,” the sources added. “It seems that someone made a deliberate choice to either transfer or delete these recordings to ensure that no one could listen to them.
These recordings are vital, as they provide a comprehensive account of what transpired and what actions need to be taken, with particular emphasis on the critical, initial eight hours, including moments when there was a lack of communication channels.”
Comments are closed.