INDEX	February 11, 2024
Labour candidate apologises for saying Israel let October 7 massacre happen in order to attack Gaza
SOURCES	Labour's candidate in the Rochdale by-election (likely to be won by George Galloway) Azhar Ali is reported to have said that Israel knew about the October 7 attack but allowed it to go ahead because it wanted to attack Gaza. He has apologised. So far as I know there is no evidence that Israel allowed the attack to go ahead in order to attack Gaza. However, Israel should have known the attack was going to happen if only because it has some of the most ruthlessly efficient spy networks in the world. 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. The Jerusalem Post said: "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 said "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.).
BBC February 11, 2024 Labour candidate Azhar Ali apologises for Israel comments
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	February 11, 2024