INDEX	January 29, 2024
Israel tapped phones of October 7 attackers
SOURCES	The Jerusalem Post among other sources says Israel monitored phones of Hamas members involved in the October 7 attack. The claim is being made because these particular Hamas members were also involved with UNWRA, the UN refugee agency. Right now Israel is making a major attempt to stop UNWRA working in Palestine and has succeeded in choking off much funding for the agency. The Jerusalem Post says: "A dossier, originating in Israeli intelligence... charges that 12 employees of UNRWA, the UN agency that oversees a number of social services, including a majority of schools, and about 3,000 of whose 13,000 employees are still working in the Gaza Strip, actively participated in Hamas's war with Israel. "Ten of them were described as 'Hamas members,' and another is believed to be affiliated with Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group active in Gaza, according to the report. "The intelligence was reportedly gathered in part through monitoring of the employees' cell phones by Israeli intelligence services: some discussed their involvement in the attack, according to the dossier, while three others received text messages directing them to a particular location while the attack was ongoing, and one was told to bring rocket-propelled grenades storied in his home. Another employee distributed ammunition." Of course this does not prove that Israel gained a warning that the attack was going to happen since the messages received during the attack could have been read after October 7, but it adds to growing evidence that Israel was aware, or should have been aware, of the Hamas attack before it happened. On January 1 The Times of Israel reported that 42 survivors of the raid were suing the defence establishment for negligence. The Times of Israel says "Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar held consultations the night before, and even sent a special operations team to the border the night before the onslaught". The Economist of December 9, 2023 reported that a paper by Robert Jackson Jr, a former commissioner of America's Securities and Exchange Commission, and Joshua Mitts of Columbia University, suggests that the critical information had leaked out to a trader or traders who were shorting Israeli shares on a massive scale prior to the attack. Israel was also warned about the attack by Egypt, according to USA House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee head Michael McCaul. "We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen," he said. (see BBC report https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67082047).
Jerusalem Post January 29, 2024 Israel tapped phones of UNWRA staff including Hamas members.
Times of Israel January 1, 2024 42 raid survivors suing defence establishment for negligence.
The Economist of December 9, 2023 Critical information had leaked out to a trader or traders who were shorting Israeli shares on a massive scale prior to the attack on October 7.
BBC Egypt warned Israel three days before the happened by Egypt, according to USA House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee head Michael McCaul.
INDEX Jonathan Brind	January 29, 2024