A senior Israeli official acknowledged, on Saturday, that there had been "mistakes" in the intelligence services' assessments ahead of an unprecedented attack launched by Hamas on Israel on October 7.

He added, "We really believed that Hamas had learned its lesson" from the last war with Israel in 2021.

On October 7, Hamas launched Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” during which its fighters penetrated Israeli areas from the sea via boats, from land by penetrating parts of the barbed wire border fence, and from the air via automated gliders, coinciding with the firing of thousands of rockets toward Israel. They entered military sites and residential communities, killed people and captured others.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Israel since the start of the attack, including 258 soldiers, according to the army’s latest toll. The number of wounded has reached 3,526, and the number of hostages taken by Hamas has reached about 120.

Hanegbi rejected any negotiations that would lead to a prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas.

“There is no way to negotiate with an enemy we have sworn to eliminate,” he said.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli bombing rose to 2,215, including 724 children and 458 women, in addition to the wounding of 8,714 citizens with various injuries, including 2,450 children and 1,536 women, according to the latest toll announced by the Hamas Ministry of Health on Saturday morning.