GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) – Three of the Zionist regime’s seven reconnaissance aerostats, which could have warned the occupying regime’s authorities of Hamas’ October 7 operation, were inoperable that day because of the regime’s failure to upgrade and maintain the equipment, Daily Mail has reported, citing security sources.
The inoperable spy balloons made the regime’s military line along the Gaza border vulnerable. The failure to operate the aerostats may be attributed to insufficient funding.
The aerostats, equipped with a payload of cameras, sensors and spyware, have long been a key part of the regime’s early warning system, and had they functioned properly, the outcome of the Hamas operation might have been different, the newspaper reported.
On October 7, Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched a surprise large-scale missile operation against the Zionist regime from the Gaza Strip, abducting people in neighboring Israeli communities. The occupying regime launched strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel.
On October 27, the regime launched a large-scale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the captives.