Explosive new reporting from The New York Times revealed that Israeli officials obtained Hamas’ battle plans for the October 7th terrorist attack over a year before it occurred. Their reporting also uncovered that Israeli officials were warned three months in advance that Hamas was conducting training exercises similar to what was in the blueprint.
The news calls into question why Israel didn’t act on this intelligence, what the United States did and didn’t know about the attack, and what, if anything, this means for our position in the region.
The Root spoke with National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at The White House Admiral John Kirby shortly after the news broke for our digital show, The 411.
Admiral Kirby said he was unable to provide additional information about the reporting at this time. “I’m afraid I’m not going to be in a position to confirm the details of the New York Times reporting,” said Kirby, “and obviously, we wouldn’t speak to intelligence matters publicly.”
Although Admiral Kirby didn’t go into detail about the New York Times reporting, he did touch on numerous issues at the heart of the Israel-Gaza conflict — including what the United States plans to do to ensure Palestinian human rights in a situation many international organizations have described as “Apartheid.”
Admiral Kirby also discussed what the U.S. did to secure the temporary pause, which expired at midnight on Thursday, and what the United States’ role will be in both Gaza and The West Bank once the conflict has ended. Notably, we went into depth on the Biden White House’s stance against constraints on aid to Israel and what they plan to do to ensure fewer civilian casualties in a campaign that has already taken at least 14,800 Palestinian lives.