Ex-Netanyahu Aide Details Pre-Oct. 7 Warnings, Alleged Record Alteration

Retired Major General Avi Gill, who served as Prime Minister Secretary, has revealed new details about the hours preceding Hamas's October 7th attack and alleged an attempt to alter official records. Gill stated that at 3:55 AM on October 7th, military intelligence received information about suspicious signs in Gaza. However, the notification described the situation as "routine" or "not unusual," leading the intelligence officer on duty not to wake him.

Gill was awakened at 6:12 AM by a call from the Shin Bet chief of staff, who urgently requested a secure phone line. He was informed of suspicious indicators, including Hamas officials descending into underground facilities, but was also told some signs suggested routine activity. He learned that Shin Bet head Ronen Bar had ordered a special unit deployed south, but no immediate assessment of an imminent attack was presented.

At 6:22 AM, while speaking with the IDF Chief of Staff's office, Gill began receiving alerts about rocket fire towards southern Israel. He then called Prime Minister Netanyahu, waking him and reporting, "Prime Minister, Hamas has opened heavy fire. I am connecting this to the intelligence I received ten minutes ago by phone. I estimate Hamas has launched a broad surprise attack."

By 6:40 AM, Gill informed Netanyahu via secure phone that "we are at war." Netanyahu arrived at military headquarters at 8:45 AM. Gill dismissed claims that security officials intentionally withheld information from the Prime Minister that night, stating, "Was there a failure? Was the interpretation of the facts wrong? Absolutely yes. Do I think, based on the data and facts I know, that someone intentionally hid or intentionally withheld information? That is a lie."

Most disturbingly, Gill alleged that in late October 2023, he learned of an unusual effort to collect protocols and stenograms from the Prime Minister's office. He recounted that in January 2024, a stenographer told him that Netanyahu's Chief of Staff, Tzachi Braverman, instructed her to change the recorded time of a call between Gill and Netanyahu from 6:40 AM to 6:29 AM. Gill stated that the stenographer pointed out the original times were recorded, but the instruction was to alter the log. "This is a change of a stenogram. This is a change of the truth," Gill said, adding he informed the Attorney General about the incident via a handwritten note. He emphasized that the attempt to alter the time was discovered before it was executed, calling it a "factually serious event."