The Israeli military says the head of its intelligence corps has resigned over the failures surrounding Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 attack,which broke through Israel’s vaunted defenses.
Aharon Haliva,the head of Israel’s military intelligence,becomes the first senior Israeli figure to step down over Hamas’ attack.
The attack killed 1200 people,mostly civilians,with roughly 250 more taken captive,and sparked the six-month-long war against Hamas in Gaza.
Haliva said shortly after the attack in October that he shouldered the blame for not preventing the assault.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the 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 October 7 and those that made it such a devastating attack.
But 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 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,who has said he will answer tough questions about his role but has not outright acknowledged any responsibility for allowing the attack to unfold.
AP