Israel’s ‘intelligence failure’ holds a lesson for Taiwan’s defence planners
- Hamas attack has raised concerns about how Taiwanese authorities would cope with a surprise assault from the mainland
- Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng says the island must be vigilant, admits saturation attack would be ‘impossible’ to block
Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng admitted to the legislature on October 12 that it would be “impossible” for the island’s military to block a saturation attack.
The ambush, which included an assault on a music festival, left more than 1,400 dead, including civilians and soldiers, with hundreds more taken hostage. A day later, Israel declared war on Hamas, launching lethal air strikes and blocking aid amid an international outcry.
The apparent failure of Israeli intelligence exposed by the Hamas attack underlines the importance of accurate information in keeping the island’s defences prepared, Chiu said.
“This is the first lesson we can draw from the Israel-Hamas conflict,” Chiu told the island’s legislature on October 12, as lawmakers considered the implications of being caught off guard by a similar offensive from the Chinese mainland.