Israeli army announces new leadership appointments

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army announced new appointments Thursday, including to senior ranks of its leadership.

''Brig. Gen. Shlomi Binder will be appointed as the head of the (Military) Intelligence Directorate (AMAN). He will be promoted to the rank of Major General,'' the army said in a statement.

Binder succeeded Aharon Haliva, who recently resigned over the failure of the intelligence division under his command to prevent the surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

''Brig. Gen. Avi Bluth will be appointed as the commanding officer of the Central Command,'' succeeding Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, the statement added.

Succeeding Brig. Gen. Uri Gordin, Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus will be appointed as commander of the Northern Corps and head of the Maneuver Array in the Ground Forces.

The Central Command is responsible for operations in central Israel and the occupied West Bank, while the Northern Corps operates in the northern regions of the country.

AMAN, Israeli's largest military intelligence agency, is responsible for providing the government with strategic assessments that inform public policies, especially regarding conflict issues.

The army's statement noted that further appointments in the army's leadership will be made gradually in the coming months.

Local media anticipates a domino effect of resignations within the military establishment in the coming weeks or after the release of internal investigations conducted by the army into the reasons behind the failure to predict the Oct. 7 attacks.

Last Monday, the Israeli army accepted Haliva's resignation.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which killed some 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,600 Palestinians have since been killed and over 77,700 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul