Aharon Haliva, the head of Israel’s military intelligence, has resigned over his failure to predict the October 7 attack by Hamas.
Haliva is the first high-ranking official to step down over the failure of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year.
Haliva decided to retire from the Israeli army because he failed to foresee the October 7 attack, Israel’s military radio said in a statement.
In his resignation letter to Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Hertzl Halevi, Haliva reportedly stated, “With authority comes great responsibility. The intelligence department under my leadership failed to fulfill the requirements of its mission.”
After his announcement, the army said in a statement that Haliva had retired.
“In cooperation with the Chief of the General Staff and with the approval of the Minister of Defense, Major General Aharon Haliva will complete his service and retire from the IDF (Army) after the appointment of his successor through a meticulous and professional selection process,” the Israeli daily “The Jerusalem Post” reported. ”
This marks the first official resignation of a senior leader in Israel, particularly within the military, amid ongoing demands within Israeli society that military and political officials be held accountable for the failure to detect and respond to a surprise attack by Hamas six months ago.
Israel has been attacking the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7 last year.
The number of people killed in the attacks carried out by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 has exceeded 34,000.
Israel’s war has pushed 85 percent of the population of the Gaza Strip into internal displacement with acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.
Israel is accused of genocide before the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop the genocidal acts and take measures to ensure humanitarian aid is provided to civilians in Gaza, AA writes.
Photo: TRT Haber
