Ronen Bar took full responsibility for the lack of action and said the matter should be looked into further, however he urged everyone to focus on the task at hand, beating the Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist organization.
"Despite a series of actions we carried out, unfortunately on Saturday we were unable to generate a sufficient warning that would allow the attack to be thwarted," Bar said in a statement to members of the agency.
"As the one who heads the organization, the responsibility for this is mine," he added. "There will be time for investigations. Now we are fighting ... We are in a war, not a round [of fighting]. A round you win with a victory image and silence; a war ends with a decisive victory and a change of situation. There is no border limit, no time limit. Till the very end."
According to the Times of Israel, Shin Bet officials noticed "unusual movement" in the Gaza Strip just hours before the attack took place, prompting a phone call between high-ranking security officials.
Bar then visited Shin Bet headquarters and, anticipating only a small-scale attack, made the decision to send a small team of agents to the Israel-Gaza border.
What actually took place was far beyond anything Bar predicted. Hundreds of Hamas terrorists descended upon Israeli soil and began massacring civilians indiscriminately.
Over 250 people were killed when a group of terrorists paraglided into a music festival in southern Israel and opened fire, with hundreds more being shot and stabbed over the following hours and days.
Nearly 1,500 people have been killed in Israel since October 7, with Palestinian authorities claiming 2,700 deaths in Gaza during the same time period.
