Israel-Hamas war day 185: What's happening in Gaza, Lebanon?

The Israeli Air Force announced, on Sunday, the establishment of a new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Squadron at the Palmachim Air Force base. 

The 147th "Battering Ram" Squadron will operate the "Star" UAV; as part of the expansion of the "Star" UAV forces in combat. The new squadron comes as significant changes in the organization of the UAV Array are being made.

The UAV’s roles will include carrying out targeted airstrikes and intelligence-gathering missions on the southern and northern borders, as well as in the West Bank.

A, who was recently dismissed after his affair with one of his subordinates was revealed, is participating in the internal investigation team of the intelligence in the Southern Command to examine the situation on the eve of the massacre, N12 reported on Monday.

According to N12, Colonel A. - from the Southern Command - was a central figure in the failures of October 7 and is now appointed to the investigation team.

In response to the appointment, Ben Caspit tweeted on the social media platform X: "If the commander of the Southern Command, one of the architects of the unfathomable intelligence failure of October 7, who was recently removed after it became clear that he had an affair with a commanding officer, is indeed participating in the internal investigation team … then someone in the IDF is confused, or freaked out, or lost his mind.”

אם קמ״ן פיקוד דרום, מאדריכלי המחדל המודיעיני הבלתי נתפס של 7 באוקטובר, שהודח לאחרונה לאחר שהתברר כי קיים רומן עם פקודה, אכן משתתף בצוות התחקיר הפנימי של המודיעין בפד״מ ערב הטבח, הרי שמישהו בצה״ל התבלבל, או התחרפן, או יצא מדעתו.
ידיעה של עופר חדד בחדשות 12 מעכשיו.
הקצין הנ״ל הוא…

— Ben Caspit בן כספית (@BenCaspit) April 8, 2024

Caspit then pointed out Ofer Hadad’s N12 report that Colonel A was one of the main figures responsible for the intelligence failure and asked how Colonel A could be appointed to investigate the failure.

Caspit writes regarding October 7

Ben Caspit is an Israeli journalist and commentator. His area of expertise is political/security, and diplomatic at Maariv, and he also hosts a daily show on FM103 on the radio. On February 26, Caspit posted an article on The Jerusalem Post website discussing the failures of October 7.

Ben Caspit (credit: ALONI MOR)

In his report, Caspit claimed that the IDF intelligence unit commander’s message regarding maintaining military readiness - which was given two weeks before the massacre - “is haunting in retrospect.” The report then focuses on the commander’s message and the IDF’s 8200 intelligence unit.

The IDF's Unit 8200, known for producing many successful individuals who contribute to Israel's technology sector, before posting the unit commander’s letter, Caspit shares that he received numerous messages expressing "sorrow over the failure," "affection for the unit," "suggestions for improvement," and "criticisms."

He then explains that the letter from Unit 8200 commander Y, dated September 24, 2023, just before the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, warned about the dangers of intelligence failures and emphasized the unit's mission to provide early warnings for war, a mission that had failed during the Yom Kippur War. 

Caspit claims that the letter serves as a chilling reminder of the ongoing importance of readiness and vigilance in intelligence operations.