The Head of Israel’s Intelligence Directorate, Aharon Haliva, requested this Monday to end his position, considering himself responsible for the military inaction that did not prevent the multiple Hamas attack on October 7 in which 1,200 people died in the territory. Israeli.
“In a decision with the Chief of the General Staff and with the approval of the Minister of Defense, it was decided that General Aharon Haliva will terminate his position and retire from the Israel Defense Forces, once his successor is appointed,” he announced. today a military statement.
This would be the first resignation of an Israeli political or military official since the bloody incursion by Hamas fighters, which took Israel by surprise on October 7, the deadliest day in the history of the Israeli state since its creation in 1948.
In the wake of the attack, the Army launched an internal investigation in late February, the conclusions of which are expected to be presented to the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, in early June.
“On October 7, 2023, Hamas carried out a deadly surprise attack against the State of Israel (…) the intelligence service placed under my command did not fulfill the mission entrusted to us,” indicates General Haliva, who has 38 years of military career, in his resignation letter published by the Israeli army. “I have carried this dark day with me ever since. Day after day, night after night, I will carry this terrible pain forever,” he adds.
Already in October, Haliva took part of the blame for a slow response against thousands of Hamas militiamen, who that day took control of more than a dozen Israeli communities and deployed themselves armed in 3% of the territory.
The ongoing internal investigation seeks to analyze the response of the troops also in the period before and after the attack, as well as their deployment on the ground and the operational procedures used to defeat the combatants.
According to a survey published today and conducted between April 14 and 17 by the Israel Democracy Institute, 62% of the Israeli population – both Jews and Arabs – believe that it is time for those responsible for the failures of the October 7, more than six months after the massacre.
The Hamas attack on October 7 killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
Israel, in retaliation, launched a military operation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, vowing to annihilate the Palestinian movement, whose commandos also took 250 hostages to Gaza on October 7, of whom around a hundred were freed during a truce at the end of November.
Israeli attacks on Gaza have left more than 34,000 dead, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
