Israel’s military intelligence chief steps down over Hamas attack blunders

AFP | Jerusalem     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Israel’s military intelligence chief has resigned after taking responsibility for failures leading to the Hamas attack on October 7, the military said yesterday, as Israel carried out more shelling in war-battered Gaza.

Major General Aharon Haliva is the first top Israeli official to step down for failing to prevent the Hamas attack, which triggered the Gaza war now in its seventh month, and brought intense scrutiny to Israel’s government and military. “The intelligence division under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with,” Haliva said in his resignation letter. “I carry that black day with me ever since.” In a sign of the anguish still being felt in Israel, families have been urged to leave an empty seat at tables to represent the hostages being held in Gaza when the Jewish holiday of Passover begins yesterday night.

Israel lashed out at reports that its top ally and military supplier the United States was considering sanctioning the Israeli military’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion over alleged human rights abuses in the West Bank from before the war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Sunday that the Israeli military would increase military pressure to “deliver additional and painful blows” on the Hamas Palestinian militants it is fighting in Gaza. He has for two months talked of sending troops into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah to go after Hamas there. Israel’s allies including Washington have warned against such an operation, fearing a worsening of Gaza’s already catastrophic humanitarian situation. A majority of Palestinians in Gaza have sought refuge in Rafah from elsewhere in the territory.