Channel 12 News has reported that the leaders of communities in southern Israel received WhatsApp notifications over the past several weeks warning of an impending disaster.
According to the report, the messages warned that, "The coming holidays will be black holidays," and that on Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) the communities around Gaza will be conquered.
The community leaders contacted the IDF and asked if, in light of these threats, the planned festivals and holiday events should be held.
Military sources responded that the events should take place, explaining, "Everything is fine. On the contrary - we are headed towards the area becoming quieter. Money is flowing into Gaza and workers are coming into Israel."
On Saturday morning, rockets rained down on cities and towns across Israel, while simultaneously terrorists from Gaza infiltrated Israel's borders, parachuting down into Israeli territory, breaking through breaches in the border fence, and arriving by sea. The infiltrating terrorists overran a police station and took control of command centers in Gaza border communities. The terrorists also went from house to house, burning homes of civilians locked in their bomb shelters, taking hostages, and killing hundreds of Israeli civilians - men, women, and children. Thus far, over 900 have been reported dead, and over 2,506 are injured.