الكاتب: kafej

Israel knew about plans for a Hamas attack on its soil more than a year before the 7 October assault that killed more than a thousand people, according to the New York Times.

The paper said officials in Israel had a 40-page battle plan, which they called “Jericho Wall”, which set out a hypothetical attack by Hamas on communities in southern Israel.

On 7 October, 1,200 people were killed and 240 more were abducted and taken into Gaza. More than 75 have now been released as part of a now-expired ceasefire.

Follow the Israel-Hamas conflict live as military operations resume after ceasefire

It is not clear how Israel obtained the document, but it had been translated, suggesting it could have originally been written in Arabic and come from Hamas.

The New York Times said the report had been seen by military and intelligence officials, but did not know if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been shown it.

It said Hamas could pummel Israel with rockets and use drones to disable security systems at the border wall, so it could take control of southern communities and military bases.

An earlier memo obtained by the New York Times from 2016, said Hamas would take hostages back into Gaza.

Despite having Jericho Wall in their possession, the New York Times said Israeli officials brushed off the Hamas plans, deeming them “aspirational” rather than something that could actually happen.

The report in the New York Times comes amid criticism of Mr Netanyahu, with some claiming he failed to prevent an attack, despite there being warning signs.

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Video showed Hamas fighters preparing for an attack

A month before the attack, Hamas posted a video on social media which appeared to show its fighters using explosives on a mocked-up border gate, then move through a reconstruction of an Israeli town with vehicles and weapons.

The video also showed fighters destroying what appeared to be mock-ups of the border wall and communications aerial – just as they did on 7 October.

When asked about the report, the Israeli military declined to comment, and instead said it was “currently focused on eliminating the threat from terrorist organisation Hamas.”

It added: “Questions of this kind will be looked into at a later stage.”

Away from the Times report, there is frustration in Israel after local media said military officials dismissed warnings from women border spotters, who said they saw Hamas preparations for the attack.

Local press reported a young woman had said she saw militants using drones and trying to knock out border cameras in the build up to the attack.

Mr Netanyahu has said blame over the attack can be determined once the war is over.

Republican congressman George Santos has been expelled from the US House of Representatives after a report found “overwhelming evidence” he misused campaign donations.

Mr Santos was ousted 311-114 in a bipartisan vote – only the sixth time a member has been kicked out of the House since it was founded in 1789.

Two-thirds of members must support the move – but a damning report by the House ethics committee that accused him of breaking federal law appeared to seal his fate.

The 35-year-old led his own defence on the floor of the House and said he would “not stand by quietly”.

Speaking the evening before the vote, he said: “The people of the Third District of New York sent me here. If they want me out, you’re going to have to go silence those people and go take the hard vote.”

Mr Santos argued it would set a precedent that would make expulsions more common.

Three previous cases involved disloyalty to the Union during the American Civil War, the remaining two were after politicians were convicted of federal crimes.

A congressional investigation found he charged his campaign account nearly $4,000 (£3,151) for spa treatments, including Botox.

He also spent more than $4,000 at designer store Hermes and made “smaller purchases” from the OnlyFans site – best known for sexual content.

As the outcome of Friday’s vote became clear, Mr Santos put his coat over his shoulders, shook hands with some members who voted against his expulsion and exited the chamber.

The House Speaker Mike Johnson solemnly instructed a clerk to inform New York’s governor his seat was now vacant.

Mr Santos was in his first term and had been previously feted as an exciting prospect after he flipped a district from the Democrats in November 2022.

But the committee launched a probe in March after reports he lied about having Jewish ancestry and his grandparents fleeing the Nazis, working at investment bank Goldman Sachs, and his college degree.

It lasted eight months and found “overwhelming evidence” of law-breaking – and Mr Santos has now admitted making up much of his biography.

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The US attorney’s office indicted him in May, accusing him of cheating donors, laundering campaign funds for his own personal use, and lying to Congress.

It alleged he stole donors’ identities and used their credit cards to make tens of thousands in authorised charges.

Mr Santos has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and his trial is scheduled for September 2024.

“Mr Santos is not a victim. He is a perpetrator of a massive fraud on his constituents and the American people,” said Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the ethics committee.

The last person to be kicked out of the House was Democrat James Traficant over a criminal corruption conviction in 2002.

New York state governor Kathy Hochul now has 10 days to call a special election for Mr Santos’s seat.