Israel’s top general has announced his resignation over the security failures that allowed Hamas to attack southern Israel on 7 October 2023 – saying he will stand down in March.
Lt General Herzi Halevi, the Israeli armed forces chief of staff, is the most prominent Israeli official to resign over the attack. The move comes just days into a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza war that was triggered by the attack, during which around 1,200 people were killed and another 250 people taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed 47,000 Palestinians according to the enclave’s health ministry and forced 90 per cent of its 2.3 million residents from their homes.
As part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, 33 of the hostages still held in the territory are due to be released, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails over the course of six weeks. The first three hostages were released over the weekend, alongside 90 prisoners. A Hamas official told AFP that four women will be released this coming weekend, without naming them.
In his letter of resignation, Halevi said the military, under his command, had “failed in its mission to defend the state of Israel”. Lt Gen Halevi, who began what was meant to be a three-year term in January 2023, said his resignation would go into effect on 6 March. The head of the Israeli military’s Southern Command, Major General Yaron Finkelman is also resigning.
In his letter, Lt Gen Halevi said of the Hamas attack: “The state of Israel paid a heavy and painful price – in lives lost, in hostages taken, and in those wounded both physically and emotionally... My responsibility for this terrible failure accompanies me every day, every hour, and will remain with me for the rest of my life.”
“I will transfer command of the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] in a high-quality and thorough manner to my successor,” he wrote in the letter to Israel’s defence minister. Lt Gen Halevi had widely been expected to step down at some point over the response to the Hamas attack. He said he would finalise the military inquiries into the 7 October attack and strengthen the Israeli military’s readiness for security challenges.
In his statement Maj Gen Finkelman said the “failure” around 7 October is “etched in my memory” and that Israel must “continue to strike the enemy, return all our hostages to their homes and the communities to their rightful place of security and prosperity”.
The resignation of the two senior generals will likely add to calls for a public inquiry into the response to the 7 October attack, something prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu – whose leadership could be implicated – has said must wait until the war is over.
Mr Netanyahu has faced rising domestic criticism for failing to accept any responsibility for the 7 October attack himself. On Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli premier said that he had spoken to the outgoing Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, adding that the two agreed to meet in the coming days. He “thanked him for his many years of service” and commanding the recent wars “on seven fronts, which has led to major achievements for the state of Israel”.
Israeli minister of defence Israel Katz also thanked Lt Gen Halevi for his service and his “part in the great achievements of the IDF in the difficult war that was forced upon us”.
Hours before the announcement by Lt Gen Halevi Israel launched a “significant and broad military operation” against Palestinian militants in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least nine people were killed and dozens wounded.
Mr Netanyahu has claimed that the military operation in Jenin aims to “eradicate terrorism” in the area. Israeli security forces “launched today a large and significant military operation to eradicate terrorism in Jenin – ‘Iron Wall’” he said in a statement. The raid is expected to last a number of days.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 six-day war. The Palestinians seek an independent state encompassing all three territories.
The Gaza ceasefire does not apply to the West Bank, which has seen a surge of violence since the start of the war. Israeli troops have carried out near-daily raids. There has also been a rise in attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers – including a rampage in two Palestinian villages overnight Monday – as well as Palestinian attacks on Israelis. The Israeli military raid was launched a day after US president Donald Trump declared he was lifting sanctions on violent Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinian villages.
Hamas condemned the Israeli operation in Jenin, calling on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to step up their own attacks. The smaller Islamic Jihad militant group also condemned the operation, saying it reflected Israel’s “failure to achieve its goals in Gaza”. It said it was also a “desperate attempt” by Mr Netanyahu to save his governing coalition.
One of Mr Netanyahu’s coalition partners, the hardline nationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir, quit the government the day the ceasefire went into effect, weakening the coalition but still leaving Mr Netanyahu with a parliamentary majority. Another, far-right leader, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, has threatened to bolt if Israel does not resume the war after the first phase of the ceasefire ends.
The Israeli army has carried out multiple raids and large-scale incursions in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began, as well as the years before that. An Israeli air strike last week in the Jenin refugee camp killed at least three Palestinians and wounded scores more.
Late on Monday, bands of Israeli settlers attacked near the village of al-Funduq, smashing cars and burning property, in an area where three Israelis were killed in a shooting earlier this month.
The military said it had opened an investigation into the incident, which it said involved dozens of Israeli civilians, some in masks.