Israeli military intelligence chief resigns over failure to prevent Hamas attack

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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The head of Israel’s military intelligence service was arrested Monday for fail around Hamas’s unprecedented attack on October 7The military said he became the first senior figure to resign over his role in the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.

Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva’s resignation is likely to lead to the resignation of more senior Israeli security officials over the Hamas attack, which saw the militants blow up Israeli border defenses and rampage without resistance for hours. Israeli community, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, while also attacking about 1,200 people.That attack triggered Gaza’s war against Hamasnow in its seventh month.

“The Intelligence Bureau under my command failed to fulfill the mission we were given. Since then, I have carried that black day with me, day after day, night after night. I will forever bear the terrible pain of war.

Haliva and other military and security leaders are widely expected to resign in response to the apparent failure and scale of the events leading up to the October 7 events.

But the timing of the resignation was unclear as Israel is still fighting Hamas in Gaza and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the north. Tensions with Iran are also at a high level following an attack between the two foes. Some military experts said the resignation at a time when Israel is busy on multiple fronts was irresponsible and could be interpreted as a sign of weakness.

Shortly after the attack, Haliva publicly said he was responsible for failing to prevent the attack as head of the military branch responsible for providing intelligence warnings and daily alerts to the government and military.

While Haliva and others acknowledged failing to prevent the attacks, others quickly pulled the plug, most notably Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he would answer tough questions about his role but No explicit admission of direct responsibility to allow the attack to unfold. He has also given no indication that he will step down, despite a growing protest movement calling for elections as soon as possible.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid welcomed the resignation, calling it “reasonable and dignified.”

“Prime Minister Netanyahu should do the same,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Hamas’s attack took place on a Jewish holiday, catching Israel and its self-proclaimed security apparatus completely unprepared. Israelis’ confidence in the military – regarded by most Jews as one of the country’s most trusted institutions – collapsed in the face of Hamas’s onslaught. Resigning may help restore some trust.

The attack sparked a devastating war that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local health ministry.The ministry’s statistics do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, but at least indicate Two-thirds of the dead were children and women.

The fighting has devastated Gaza’s two largest cities and forced 80 percent of the territory’s population to flee to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave. The war caused a humanitarian disaster and prompted warnings of impending famine.

The attack also sent shockwaves through the region. In addition to Hezbollah and Iran, tensions have rocked towns in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and within Israel.

On Monday, Israeli police said a car hit pedestrian In Jerusalem, three people were slightly injured and surveillance footage showed two men getting out of the car with rifles and fleeing the scene. Police later said they arrested two men.