Israeli military officials speaking anonymously have revealed how Hamas was able to breach Israel's heavily fortified border fence with Gaza in multiple locations, allowing over 1,500 terrorists to cross into Israeli territory and carry deadly attacks. Hamas lulled Israel into complacency about war preparations while secretly gathering intelligence and planning a sophisticated cross-border military operation that disabled Israeli border surveillance systems and weapons. With Israel's border barrier systems disabled, Hamas militants blasted holes in the fence. They achieved tactical surprise against Israeli forces that had become over-reliant on the technical systems and lacked sufficient troops on the ground to respond rapidly. Questions remain about reported intelligence warnings Israel received of Hamas preparations that were apparently not acted upon by border guards.