Haaretz investigation reveals that Col. Haim Cohen arrived at the Nova site about an hour before the Hamas attack, saw thousands of party-goers with minimal police presence, but did not consider boosting security presence. Most IDF forces were unaware music festival was even taking place
Haaretz
About an hour before the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival on the morning of October 7, the IDF commander in charge arrived at the site after receiving prior intelligence warnings about an impending attack but took no preemptive action, Haaretz has learned.
Lieutenant Colonel Haim Cohen, commander of the Northern Brigade in the Gaza Division, observed the massive crowds at the festival and noted that only a handful of police officers were on security duty. But Cohen told military investigators he had no information suggesting that he should act differently or order the festival to be dispersed. It has not yet been clarified exactly what intelligence information was disclosed to him that night.
The Nova party – where 378 people were killed and 44 were taken hostage into Gaza – became the deadliest site of the October 7 attacks.
An IDF investigation, obtained by Haaretz, determined that it was characterized as a ‘mistake’ not to consider cancelling or dispersing the festival during the divisional assessment held that previous night. A deeper discussion might have led to such a decision, despite the division’s limited understanding of Hamas’ intentions and intelligence constraints.
The investigation also said that Cohen ‘miscalculated’ when he did not assign a military force to the festival complex, given the size of the crowd, the timing, and the sensitive location.
Cohen remained at his home in Tiberias, northern Israel, overnight into Saturday, October 7, 2023. Throughout the night, the Shin Bet, Military Intelligence and senior IDF command picked up alarming signs of unusual Hamas activity. Although not all the information was passed up the chain of command to Cohen, he decided at 3:13 A.M. for unclear reasons to drive from Tiberias to the division’s distant southern base.
Before he set out, the division commander, Brigadier General Avi Rosenfeld, reassured Cohen that there was ‘no pressure’ to arrive quickly. ‘Drive safely,’ Rosenfeld told him. It is unclear whether this reflected his complacency or if the full intelligence available at the time had not been shared with the division.
Overnight into Saturday, additional intelligence reached the division, and at 4:00 A.M., a telephone briefing led by IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and attended by the Southern Command chief was held. During Cohen’s drive south, Cohen received updated assessments of the situation.
After a roughly two-hour drive, Cohen arrived at the festival complex around 5:30 A.M., on his way to the division’s base. In several conversations with senior military officers, he described seeing firsthand the large number of attendees – more than 4,000 – and the security arrangements in place. Cohen noted that he saw a force of the Yamam counterterrorism unit and another police vehicle positioned on Route 232.
He told military investigators that this apparent increased police presence reassured him that the event was secure.
The IDF investigation found, however, that only about 50 police officers were present and that several had left the festival by the time the attack began, as other reports flooded in.
Even after Cohen arrived at the division’s base, and despite escalating alerts, he did not mention the festival in situation briefings nor change the military’s preparedness to secure it. His presence at the festival before the attack began is significant, as the IDF investigation found that most sector forces were unaware it was taking place and therefore lacked knowledge of its location, size, and security arrangements.
This information, however, was fully available to Cohen and fresh in his memory.
Cohen was also the officer who initially approved the festival on Tuesday of that same week. The festival approval form, signed by him, stated that the Northern Brigade, under his command, was responsible for perimeter security during the event within the fenced area, and that the festival’s security plan had been presented to the brigade and approved.
However, Cohen said that, even overnight into Saturday and before the attack began, he assessed that a change in troop deployment was needed. In a speech he gave upon leaving his post in April, Cohen said: ‘While driving from my home to the base, the thought occurred to me that I might be misjudging the situation, and that there could be a Hamas anti-tank cell I’m not aware of.’
‘Therefore, despite the requirement to keep the information at my level, I informed the forces that the enemy was acting suspiciously and, in light of this, we needed to make changes in the morning to adjust our troops,’ he added.
Cohen commanded heavy fighting on October 7 and during the war. Colonel Asaf Hamami, commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, was killed at the start of the attack, and his body was taken into Gaza. In December 2024, then-IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi dismissed Cohen from his post, and a few months later announced his retirement.
The IDF did not issue a comment on this report.