Media's delayed response: Israeli outlets stunned by Hamas operations

Hamas' media wing began releasing videos of military operations and abductions of Israeli soldiers and settlers. 

This caught the Israeli media and military analysts off guard, resulting in a state of shock rarely witnessed in modern times.

For hours, there was an absence of official statements from the Israeli army and government officials. Instead, social media was flooded with videos and distress calls from settlers in affected areas.

Around 9:30 AM, more than three hours into the Hamas offensive, Israeli journalist Roee Kais made a plea, saying, "It's time for an Israeli official to step forward and establish order, calming the people."

Simultaneously, military analyst Yoav Limor questioned, "Will anyone from the military come out to address the citizens, or will they continue to allow WhatsApp to dictate the outcome?"

What struck observers was the unanimous admission of a significant intelligence failure by all parties in Israel.

Another Israeli journalist remarked, "The Intelligence failure is staggering to the extent that Hamas managed to bring Palestinian journalists from Gaza into Israel to cover the operation in settlements they had occupied. We knew nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Avi Meyer, editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, commented, " The sheer scale of this catastrophe won't be known for hours or days, as the dead and missing are tallied, but it is already clear that it is unlike anything Israel has experienced in half a century or more. This day will go down in history. Nothing will be the same after today."

The shockwave reverberated not only through the Israeli media but also across Israeli society, marking an unprecedented event not seen since the 1973 war.