JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s outgoing head of navy intelligence took duty for his nation’s failures to defend its border on Oct. 7 at his resignation ceremony on Wednesday.
Main Normal Aharon Haliva, a 38-year veteran of the navy, introduced his resignation in April and was one among various senior Israeli commanders who stated that they had did not foresee and forestall the deadliest assault in Israel’s historical past.
“The failure of the intelligence corps was my fault,” Haliva stated on the ceremony on Wednesday, and he referred to as for a nationwide investigation “in order to study” and “understand deeply” the explanations that led to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The Oct. 7 assault badly tarnished the status of the Israeli navy and intelligence providers, beforehand seen as all however unbeatable by armed Palestinian teams reminiscent of Hamas.
Within the early hours of the morning of Oct. 7, following an intense rocket barrage, 1000’s of fighters from Hamas and different teams broke via safety boundaries round Gaza, shocking Israeli forces and rampaging via communities in southern Israel.
Some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners have been killed within the assault, most of them civilians, and about 250 have been taken into captivity in Gaza, in response to Israeli tallies. Some 109 hostages are believed to nonetheless be in Gaza, round a 3rd of whom are considered useless.
The top of the armed forces, Lieutenant-Normal Herzi Halevi, and the top of the home intelligence company Shin Wager, Ronen Bar, each accepted duty within the aftermath of the assault however have stayed on whereas the conflict in Gaza has continued.
