News / Palestine

Israeli military chief of staff resigns over October 7 failures

Tuesday, 21 January 2025 4:38 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 21 January 2025 4:38 PM ]

The Israeli army's chief of staff, Herzi Halevi (file by Reuters)

The Israeli army's chief of staff has announced his resignation over the military’s failure to prevent Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the occupied territories in October 2023.

In his resignation letter released on Tuesday, Herzi Halevi, said he was leaving in keeping with his promise to take responsibility for the failure of the military, under his command, that allowed Hamas to carry out the attack on October 7.

"My responsibility for this terrible failure accompanies me every day and every hour. This will continue for the rest of my life," he wrote in his letter sent to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the regime’s war minister Israel Katz, adding that he will resign effective March 6, after two years and two months in office.

Halevi went on to say that he made this decision long ago, adding that given the recent ceasefire deal in Gaza and the release of captives being underway, “the time is ripe.”

Shortly after, Major General Yaron Finkelman, the head of Israeli military operations in Gaza, also announced his resignation.

Gaza's ceasefire takes effect after months of negotiations

The Gaza Strip has experienced months of continuous bombardment, resulting in widespread destruction and significant displacement of its population.

Israel’s former minister of military affairs and opposition leader Avigdor Lieberman called on Netanyahu and the rest of the cabinet ministers "to take responsibility and follow in the footsteps of Halevi."

The latest resignations came after Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire, accepting Hamas' longstanding negotiation terms. The ceasefire went into effect on Sunday.

The ceasefire deal consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days. Negotiations for the second and third phases will begin 16 days after the implementation of the first phase.

The first phase will see the release of some 1,900 Palestinian abductees in exchange for 33 Israeli captives held in Gaza.

More than 240 Israelis were taken captive by the resistance groups last October, following which the regime launched the war.

A large number of them have been killed as a result of the Israeli military’s indiscriminate assaults on Gaza amid Tel Aviv’s insistence on keeping up the war until Hamas’ “elimination.”

The regime approved the deal after coming under monumental pressure from the families of the captives and despite far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatening that he and his party colleagues would resign from the cabinet and cause it to collapse if the agreement was approved.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir