Israel war: Sen. Mark Warner backs review of attack intelligence failures once Hamas is defeated

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) said on Tuesday he’ll launch an inquiry into the intelligence failures leading up to last weekend’s unprecedented terrorist attack in Israel once the terror group behind it is neutralized.

Warner made the comments while speaking to reporters outside the Senate floor after a pro forma session where one member quickly gavels the chamber in and out. The Gang of Eight member said he expects to receive a briefing on how Hamas pulled off the surprise attack on Tuesday afternoon, though he does not foresee an investigation in the immediate term.

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Asked by the Washington Examiner if he planned to request a classified briefing on what intelligence failures could have occurred, the Virginia senator replied: “Of course, but the question is when.

“Do I want to bring the leaders of the intelligence community away from doing their job of trying to work with Israelis and other states who want to see an end to this barbaric killing and start that kind of inquiry now? Or do we want to wait? The facts are not going to change about how we got here,” Warner said. “Let’s let the IC in America and the intelligence community in Israel do their job, which right now is seeking out the terrorists and destroying them.”

Warner later explained that he wants “our intelligence communities both focused on rooting out the Hamas leadership and bringing them to justice.”

At least 900 Israeli civilians and 14 Americans are dead as a result of the carnage, while more than 2,500 have been injured. In total, more than 1,800 Israelis and Palestinians have died since the conflict erupted on Saturday. Those numbers do not account for the more than 100 Israelis and Americans being held hostage by Hamas, the Iran-backed terrorist group that operates in Gaza and which carried out the assault.

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The holiday weekend attack, which came on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, marked the first time since 1973 that the country has declared war.

The attack also represented a mammoth failure for the intelligence community in both the United States and Israel. The Israeli intelligence apparatus has long been revered as possessing some of the best sources and overall cyber capabilities in the world. This wide-ranging assault, which marked the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, has damaged that aura of invincibility.