The head of Israel’s military intelligence directorate has resigned over the failures surrounding Hamas’s unprecedented attack on 7 October.
According to Israeli military, he is becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the deadliest assault in Israel’s history, reports The Guardian.
Maj Gen Aharon Haliva’s resignation sets the stage for what is expected to be further fallout from Israel’s top security brass over Hamas’s attack, when militants breached border defences, rampaged through Israeli communities unchallenged for hours and killed 1,200 people, most civilians, while taking about 250 hostages.
That attack set off the war against Hamas in Gaza, which is in its seventh month.
The Israeli military said in a statement that Haliva had asked to end his service “following his leadership responsibility’.
Shortly after the war, Haliva had publicly said that as head of the military department responsible for providing the government and the military with intelligence warnings and daily alerts, he shouldered blame for not preventing the assault.
The military said in the statement that the military chief of staff accepted Haliva’s request to resign and thanked him for his service.
Haliva, as well as other military and security leaders, were widely expected to resign in response to the glaring failures that led up to the 7 October attack.
The timing of the resignations is unclear, because Israel is still fighting Hamas in Gaza and battling the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the north. Tensions with Iran are also at a high following attacks between the two enemies.
While Haliva and others have accepted blame for failing to stop the attack, others have stopped short, most notably Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who has said he will answer tough questions about his role but has not acknowledged outright any responsibility for allowing the attack to happen.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
