Ritter argued that Hamas had achieved a massive victory over the Israeli army, stating that “the basic elements of this victory are well-established.”
In an article, entitled: “The most successful military raid of this century: the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel,” Scott Ritter offered a unique analysis regarding what has transpired in October 7 between Hamas fighters and the Israeli military in southern Israel.
Ritter, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and former UN Special Commission weapons inspector, wrote that “Israel has characterized the attack carried out by Hamas on the various Israeli military bases and militarized settlements .. as a massive act of terrorism, likening it to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks against the United States.”
“The problem with the Israeli claims is that they are demonstrably false or misleading,” he wrote.
“Nearly a third of the Israeli casualties consisted of military, security, and police officers. Moreover, it turns out that the number one killer of Israelis on October 7 wasn’t Hamas or other Palestinian factions, but the Israeli military itself. Recently released video shows Israeli Apache helicopters indiscriminately firing on Israeli civilians trying to flee the Supernova Sukkot Gathering held in the open desert near Kibbutz Re’im, the pilots unable to distinguish between the civilians and the Hamas fighters. Many of the vehicles that the Israeli government has shown as an example of Hamas perfidy were destroyed by the Israeli Apache helicopters.”
Ritter’s claims are supported by new information based on Israel’s own security assessment, and published in the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, on Saturday.
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Ritter also debunked early Israeli claims, many of which were repeated by Western officials and mainstream media.
“The Israeli government has had to walk back its claims that Hamas beheaded 40 children and has provided no credible evidence that Hamas was involved in the rape or sexual assault of a single Israeli female. Eyewitness accounts describe the Hamas fighters as disciplined, determined, and deadly in the attack, and yet courteous and gentle when dealing with civilian captives.”
He asks,
“The question arises as to why the Israeli government would go out of its way to manufacture a narrative designed to support the false and misleading characterization of the October 7 attack by Hamas on the Gaza barrier system as an act of terrorism.”
The answer, according to Ritter: “Because what happened on October 7 was not a terrorist attack, but a military raid.”
“The difference between the two terms is night and day—by labeling the events of October 7 as acts of terrorism, Israel transfers blame for the huge losses away from its military, security, and intelligence services, and onto Hamas. If Israel were, however, to acknowledge that what Hamas did was in fact a raid—a military operation—then the competency of the Israeli military, security, and intelligence services would be called into question, as would the political leadership responsible for overseeing and directing their operations.”
Ritter argued that Hamas had achieved a massive victory over the Israeli army, arguing that “the basic elements of this victory are well-established.”
These elements include,
“Hamas effectively neutralized Israel’s vaunted intelligence services, blinding them to the possibility of an attack of this scope and scale.
“When the attack occurred, Hamas was able to strike with precision the very surveillance and communication nodes the IDF relied upon to mobilize a response in case of an attack.
“Hamas defeated those Israeli soldiers stationed along the barrier wall in a stand-up fight. Two battalions of the Golani Brigade were routed, as were elements of other vaunted IDF units.
“Hamas struck the Headquarters of the Gaza Division, the local intelligence hub, and other major command and control facilities with brutal precision, turning what should have been a five-minute response time into many hours—more than enough time for Hamas to carry out one of its primary objectives—the taking of hostages. This they did with extreme proficiency, returning to Gaza with more than 230 Israeli soldiers and civilians.”
To read Ritter’s article in full, click here.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Just to let you know I’m one more person who is with you. The Israelie genocide and failure of US Government to STOP Israel is the height of criminality.
Just to let you know I’m not with you. I don’t condone having civilians killed, but to call October 7th a military raid is ludicrous. I wonder if you would say the same thing if your family was gunned down while walking down the street. I’m done with you Scott Ritter.