Leaked Recordings Reveal Police Command Center Chaos on October 7

Exclusive recordings from the Israel Police command center on October 7 reveal the dramatic moments and helplessness experienced by top commanders during the Hamas surprise attack. The recordings, obtained by i24NEWS, show that police officers on the ground were often the first and only line of defense against Hamas terrorists in southern communities and on roadways.

While officers and special forces units engaged in desperate battles in Sderot, Ofakim, Re'im, and Yad Mordechai, then-Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai and his command staff struggled to manage numerous active combat zones simultaneously, facing critical shortages of forces and ammunition. Around 10 AM, serious concerns arose about terrorists penetrating deeper into Israel following reports from panicked citizens of gunfire near the central bus station in Be'er Sheva.

Due to the full deployment of all special units to the Gaza border area, Shabtai ordered a gas-based response for any potential terrorist barricade situation in Be'er Sheva, stating, "If you encounter an incident in the Be'er Sheva area of a barricade, surround them and choke them with gas, because it will take time until we have additional takeover forces for that direction." This directive highlights the severe lack of available forces.

Simultaneously, police officials from the operations division desperately sought urgent air support from the IDF. The recordings capture officers demanding attack helicopters to halt the massacre at the Re'im base and the "open area," referring to the Nova music festival site where mass killings and abductions occurred. Police officers expressed frustration, asking, "I want to know how long it will take to get attack helicopters," and noting, "For some reason, we are not succeeding in getting approval from the army," amidst complete uncertainty about the Air Force's ability to assist ground forces.