President Joe Biden speaks during a roundtable with Jewish community leaders in the Indian Treaty Room on the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. AP
The assessments were submitted to the Biden administration several weeks before the unprecedented attack that saw Palestinian militants cross Gaza fences on 7 October.
The two reports were based partly on intelligence information provided by Israel, CNN added citing sources familiar with the information.
One assessment on 28 September warned that Hamas intends to escalate by launching missiles at Israel.
A more recent assessment on 5 October generally warned of the increasing potential for violence. However, none of the reports presented any tactical details or indications of a massive attack from the Palestinian resistance groups.
The Palestinian territories and Israel are on a “hotspots” list which includes almost daily intelligence briefings by senior US officials on Israel and the Palestinian territories, CNN reported a source familiar with the matter as saying.
On 6 October, US officials shared Israeli reports concerning an unusual movement by Hamas, only a day before the attack on Israel.
Similarly, Arab allies in the region issued several high-level warnings, among other assessments, that reached the Biden administration raising questions as to why Israel and America did nothing to avert the Hamas attack.
“The problem is that none of this is new,” said one of the sources familiar with the intelligence.
“This is something that has historically been the norm between Hamas and Israel. I think what happened is everyone saw these reports and were like, "Yeah of course. But we know what this will look like."
The reports come as Israel is carrying out a brutal war against Gaza, after the Gaza-based militants stormed its southern border at the weekend, attacking ISraeli military bases and soldiers and killing more than 1,300.
Israel has since carried out a grisly retaliation, bombarding the Gaza Strip with round-the-clock air strikes while imposing a complete siege on the Palestinian enclave that has stopped water, food and electricity from reaching about 2.3 million Palestinians.
The ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza has entered a critical and dire phase, marked by Israel's issuance of an evacuation order for 1,1 million Palestinian civilians from the northern Gaza strip, sparking fears of an imminent ground invasion as the casualty toll continues to mount.
Over 1,900 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, including 614 children, in addition to 6,388 wounded, the Health ministry announced.
Children and senior citizens account for 60 percent of casualties, Palestinian health ministry figures say.
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