The Israeli military released a 19-page report this week acknowledging widespread failures and a catastrophic misread of the intentions and capabilities of Hamas that led to the Oct 7, 2023, massacre.

Close to 5,000 Hamas-led terrorists entered southern Israel from Gaza and slaughtered 1,200 Israelis of all ages and captured another 251 more. Nearly all the victims were civilians.

The full report has not been made available to the public, yet the summary illustrates a decadeslong "fundamental misunderstanding" of Hamas, according to the English translation provided to the media. The Israel Defense Forces operated "based on the (incorrect) assumption that Hamas was neither interested nor preparing for a large-scale war."

"A large-scale, surprise attack was not considered to be a likely scenario, due to a fundamental misunderstanding of the enemy," the military said in a summary of the findings, which were released Thursday. "The IDF and intelligence agencies perceived Hamas as a limited and reactive threat and assumed that an early warning would precede any large-scale offensive."

Israeli intelligence officials assumed for years that Hamas was primarily focused on ruling over Gaza, which it claimed from the Palestinian Authority in 2007.

"In hindsight, Hamas systematically employed deception tactics that reinforced this perception. In retrospect, this was a grave mistake," the IDF summary read.

The IDF told the Associated Press that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whom the IDF killed in October, had been planning the attack since 2017.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a statement that he accepts full responsibility for the military's failures leading up to the attacks.

"My responsibility is mine; I was the military commander on Oct. 7. I have my responsibility, and I also have all of your responsibility," he said as the report was presented.

"An organization and a person incapable of standing up and looking failure in the eye will have a very, very difficult time putting it right."

Halevi announced he will be resigning from the IDF on March 5.

Following the Oct. 7 attacks, Israel launched a nearly 16-month war, which was paused in January by a shaky six-week ceasefire agreement that has not yet been extended. Over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the conflict. The IDF claims 884 Israeli soldiers have been killed during the conflict and at least 15,000 Hamas fighters, according to Reuters.

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