Investigations are ongoing within Israel regarding the events of October 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack that resulted in the death of approximately 1,200 people and the capture of around 250 hostages. An initial investigation by the Israeli army into the battle that took place on October 7 in Kibbutz Be'eri near the Gaza Strip found that the controversial military commander Barak Hiram "acted largely correctly" when seeking to confront Hamas. According to Israeli Channel 12, the findings presented to Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi on Monday indicated that "the army failed in its mission to stop the kibbutz invasion due to the large number of infiltrators and combat sites."
However, the findings also suggested that "after Hiram, commander of the 99th Brigade of the Israeli army, arrived at the scene, his leadership ensured the Israeli army regained control of the kibbutz." The channel noted that "the investigation found that Hiram made several mistakes," but did not specify them. These "mistakes" may relate to the most controversial incident of that day, when Hiram ordered a tank to fire on a house owned by a woman named Bessie Cohen, where Hamas fighters were holding 14 hostages. Thirteen of the 14 hostages were killed in this incident, but it remains unclear how many hostages were directly killed by the tank fire.
Official findings from the investigation are expected to be announced on Thursday, according to Channel 12, and the investigation is anticipated to provide complete details regarding the "Cohen house" incident. Before the conflict, Hiram was appointed to be the next commander of the Gaza Brigade of the Israeli army, but that move is currently on hold pending the results of the investigation into the Be'eri events.
