Israeli army chief plans to resign by December end over Oct. 7 failures: Media

By Khaled Yousef

JERUSALEM (AA) - As the wave of resignations continued in Israel, local media reported on Thursday that Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has also set a December deadline to submit his resignation for failing to prevent Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster said Halevi decided to step down at the end of this year, pending the conclusion of investigations into the Israeli military's failure to respond effectively to the Hamas attack.

According to the report, Halevi disclosed his plan to step down during a conversation with his associates, indicating that he believes the end of the year is an appropriate time to announce his resignation.

By late December, Tel Aviv is expected to complete its investigations into the army's failure to thwart Hamas's attack on Oct. 7, the report added.

The report also claimed that by the end of December, the Israeli army is expected to have completed its preparations for an all-out war with Lebanon.

Halevi's possible resignation comes after Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, the commander of the Israeli army’s intelligence Unit 8200, announced his resignation over failure to prevent the Oct. 7 events, according to Israeli media.

Sariel is one of seven top officials, including the Israeli army’s senior officials, who resigned after facing criticism from various quarters for failing to protect people during the Hamas incursions.

Sariel was appointed as the unit commander in February 2021, the Israeli website Walla said.

In the last three months, the Israeli army's Gaza Division commander, Brigadier General Avi Rosenfeld, the head of the Shin Bet security agency's Southern District, and an intelligence officer in the Gaza division have all resigned for the same reason.

On Sept. 3, Tamir Yadai, the chief of the Israeli army's ground forces, resigned for "personal reasons" after three years in the position.

Major General Aharon Haliva, head of the Israeli army's Military Intelligence Directorate, resigned on April 22 after failing to predict the Palestinian group Hamas' attack on Israel.

Brigadier General Amit Saar, head of the Military Intelligence Directorate's Research Division, resigned in the first week of February "due to personal reasons, unrelated to the unit's failure to sound the alarm about the Oct. 7 attack, but over illness," according to media reports.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last October despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 41,100 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and over 95,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul