Firefighters work to put out a fire in an open field, following a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, near a hospital in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
JNS.org – Some 7,000 Gazans participated in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, according to new Israel Defense Forces estimates.
The data is based on an in-depth investigation conducted by the IDF’s Gaza Division, Channel 12 reported on Saturday. The findings were submitted to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
According to the assessment, double the number of Gazas infiltrated the northwestern Negev on that day as had been previously believed—some 3,800 terrorists from the Hamas terror group’s elite Nukhba forces who led the invasion, followed by 2,200 “terrorists and looters from Gaza.” Around 1,000 other terrorists participated in the attack from within the Gaza Strip, firing some 4,300 rockets and assisting the forces that crossed into Israeli territory.
The terrorists breached the border at 119 points, around double the figure of 60 breaches previously reported.
The initial figures made public indicated that some 3,000 Hamas terrorists and Gazan civilians had infiltrated Israeli territory and participated in the mass killing, kidnapping, looting and destruction and other atrocities and sexual assaults.
“The operational investigation has not yet been concluded, and it continues in accordance with the assessment of the situation and in view of operational constraints. When concluded, it will be presented to the public transparently,” said the IDF spokesperson in response to the report.
Some 1,200 people were murdered in the Oct. 7 attack. Thousands more wounded and 251 were kidnapped to Gaza, of whom 101 remain in captivity.
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