The IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi will resign “in the coming period,” according to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12. The bombshell resignation is part of a purge of all officers seen as responsible for failing to stop the October 7 attacks last year.
Earlier this week, the country’s head of military intelligence Major General Aharon Haliva announced his shock resignation.
He was the first senior figure to step down over the attack, which was the deadliest in Israel’s history Israeli military and intelligence officials missed or ignored multiple warnings before hundreds of Hamas gunmen breached the Gaza border fence and attacked nearby Israeli communities, military bases and a music festival.
Maj. Gen. Haliva is the first in a series of military commanders who “will be forced to retire in the near future”.
Several other officers, including the Head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency Ronen Bar, are also expected to leave.
Even Maj. Gen. Haliva’s expected successors – Major General Yaron Finkelman and Major General Eliezer Toledano – “are now perceived as part of the failure”.
The timing of the expected resignations is surprising, given that Israel appears to be moving ahead with plans for an offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza.
The invasion would go against countless warnings from allies over the catastrophic humanitarian consequences for the 1.5 million displaced Palestinians sheltering there.
The area is regularly bombed. Strikes in Rafah killed more than 12 people overnight.
Israel’s Channel 12 revealed that many officers who are expected to resign or be fired have sought legal representation “in preparation for war investigations.”
Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.
Meanwhile, Hamas has confirmed that it is studying Israel’s latest proposal for a truce in Gaza.
