An investigation by the New York Times has found that the Israeli army was “undermanned” and “out of position” during the October 7 attack by Hamas, Al Jazeera reports.

The Times added that the army was “so poorly organized that soldiers communicated in impromptu WhatsApp groups and relied on social media posts for targeting information.

“Commandos rushed into battle armed only for brief combat. Helicopter pilots were ordered to look to news reports and Telegram channels to choose targets”.

From interviews with current and former military personnel, the investigation also found that Israeli forces had no response plan or training for a significant attack by Hamas.

“The soldiers that day made it up as they went along,” the Times found.

The Israeli army did not respond to questions from the Times regarding its findings, other than to say that it was focused on defeating Hamas and that questions “of this kind will be looked into at a later stage”.