BREAKING: At least 74,475 people have been killed and 175,517 wounded by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
🔴 LIVE updates: https://t.co/0k9eku9agw
Mehdi Hasan Confronts a Former Israeli Intelligence Officer: “Hamas Followed the Battle Plan Exactly as Written”
Mehdi Hasan: You’re a former Israeli intelligence officer. Can you explain to us how October the 7th happened?
How were thousands of Hamas fighters able to cross that fence into Israel despite all of your country’s intense surveillance and military apparatus?
Former Israeli Intelligence Officer: The major failure was not necessarily a physical or technical one, but a conceptual one.
There was a concept within the security high echelons, policy makers, and intelligence levels that basically ruled out the scenario of such a massive attack.
It’s not that there were no signs or warnings, but the concept was much stronger than any on-the-ground evaluation of what was going on.
Mehdi Hasan: The New York Times reported that Israeli officials had Hamas’s battle plans in their hands for a year before October the 7th.
Why would you ignore a battle plan from Hamas that your intelligence agencies had successfully procured? Because Hamas followed that plan to the T, I believe.
Former Israeli Intelligence Officer: When you’re dealing with intelligence, you’re expected to provide decision-makers with assessments and prioritize the different scenarios. The dominant focus within Israeli intelligence for the last two decades and more was Hezbollah.
Mehdi Hasan: So they distracted.
Former Israeli Intelligence Officer: When you look at what happened with Hezbollah following October 7th and what happened with Hamas, you could see the differences. The pager attack was more forensic, well-planned.
Mehdi Hasan: Are you saying that’s an intelligence failure or a political failure, that you don’t take this plan seriously when you seem to have had it for a year?
Former Israeli Intelligence Officer: It’s clearly combined. It’s all across the board.
🚨 BREAKING:
Swedish billionaire Roger Akelius made the largest individual donation to UNICEF Sweden, donating $76 million for Palestine.
The funds will help rebuild 400 schools and support over 100,000 Palestinian children.
Yes. Florida Republican Mike Caruso, who sponsored antisemitism hate-crime bills like HB 269, was arrested in August 2026 on felony charges including lewd molestation of his young grandson (under 5). The affidavit alleges he isolated the boy on a 2025 cruise, put his penis in the child’s mouth, and urinated in it, plus earlier incidents. He pleaded not guilty; the case continues.
Host Challenges Muslim Panel on Whether Women Are Equal to Men in Islam — The Final Answer Is Just One Word
Host: According to Sunan Ibn Majah 1918, when a man gets a wife, he’s supposed to take her by the forelock and pray a blessing over her. I find that concerning because it seems to put women in the same category as animals and servants.
Nadia: I think it’s a beautiful hadith. He’s not equating her to an animal. Animals symbolized wealth and property, and you want to protect your livelihood from evil eye and envy.
The forelock is the forehead, and the prayer is a blessing—not a way of putting someone in a subservient position.
Host: But that’s my concern. In Genesis, men and women are both given authority over creation. In Islam, the man has authority over the woman, and she’s lumped into the same category as the animal.
On my wedding day, I didn’t say the same blessing over my husband that I would say over my new dog. But this hadith says he should say that blessing over her.
Nadia: Men are protectors and maintainers over women. In dating, you expect a man to pursue you and give you flowers. Nobody asks why he has that position. It’s not about degrading women.
Host: I want you to hear my heart. I believe men and women are different. I’m talking about equality in value. Where in the Quran or the hadiths does it say men and women are equal in value?
Nadia: In Surah An-Nisa, it says God created you from the same soul. That shows men and women have the same value and dignity.
Host: So do you believe women are inferior in any way to men?
Nadia: The Prophet said in his last sermon that what makes you better than another person is your good deeds and piety not gender or race.
Host: So in Islam, are women inferior? I agree they’re different, but are they inferior in any way?
Sakinah: How do you define inferior?
Host: Less than.
Sakinah: No.