U.S. sends carrier group to eastern Mediterranean Israel formally declared war on Hamas on Sunday after a surprise attack that killed over 700. The Israelis are massing troops for a ground invasion. The U.S. State Department said in a statement this morning that at least nine Americans died in the Hamas attack. NBC News: “This is Israel’s 9/11. Not since 1973 has there been such a catastrophic intelligence failure in Israel,” said Marc Polymeropoulos, who worked for 26 years for the CIA, where he specialized in counterterrorism, the Middle East and South Asia. Israel’s intelligence services have long been seen as some of the most capable in the world, with an array of human intelligence, eavesdropping and other technical means blanketing the West Bank and Gaza. “It is almost inconceivable how they missed this,” said Polymeropoulos. As with early reporting from any war zone, statistics and accounts will be revised. Be careful where you get your news and note reporters’ sources. Patrick Kingsley, the New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief, and two others report (relying in part on “two senior Israeli officials”) that a large portion of those 700 reported casualties in Israel came in attack by Hamas militants on an outdoor music festival. They bulldozed their way through border barricades and sped toward the festival still underway at dawn. It’s a chlling account: The militants gunned down more than 100 ravers and abducted others, according to two senior Israeli officials, as they sprinted through the open fields. Video verified by…