Israel - Palestine - Hamas - gaza
Smoke billows from a residential building following an Israeli airstrike on targets in Gaza City AFP / MOHAMMED ABED

KEY POINTS

  • India's defense forces will also observe Israel's response to the attack
  • Israel's military and intelligence capabilities are among the best in the world
  • The attack revealed that even countries that take great pride in their intelligence can have vulnerabilities

India is reportedly carrying out a detailed study into the Hamas attack, which led Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war on the Palestinian militant group.

India's defense forces will study possible intelligence gaps that the Hamas group may have exploited to carry out the devastating attack that caught Israel by surprise.

"We are studying these attacks in detail as the way these attacks were carried out and how the terrorists managed to keep their activities hidden from the agencies tasked to track them," officials told Indian news agency ANI.

They will also observe Israel's response to the attack. The issue will also likely be discussed during the Army commanders' conference scheduled for Oct. 18, officials added.

Israel's military and intelligence capabilities are among the best in the world. Despite that, the Hamas group managed to unleash a quick, multi-pronged attack on Israel by air, sea and land. The Oct. 7 ambush saw thousands of missiles being fired from Gaza. Hundreds of armed fighters swooped into Israel on paragliders or barged into the country by boat, pickup trucks and even motorcycles after security fences on the Israel-Gaza border were torn down.

The attack revealed that even countries that take great pride in their intelligence services have vulnerabilities and can be caught completely unaware of when their neighbors plan a massive attack of this kind.

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India, which also has a hostile neighbor and has been targeted on multiple occasions by terrorist groups, has expressed its support for Israel following the Hamas attack. Although India has been publicly supporting the Palestinian cause for years, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to express his solidarity with Israel following the attack.

As the conflict entered its fifth day Wednesday, at least 950 people were killed and 5,000 wounded on the Palestinian side, while Israel lost more than 1,200 people and saw at least 2,800 wounded.

President Joe Biden said at least 14 U.S. citizens were killed and some were taken hostage by Hamas.

India Israel