Israel's Top General Resigns Over Oct. 7 Failures

Israel's top general resigned Tuesday, taking responsibility for security failures tied to Hamas' surprise attack that triggered the war in Gaza and adding to pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has delayed any public inquiry that could potentially implicate his leadership.

• Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi is the most senior Israeli figure to resign over the security and intelligence breakdown on Oct. 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led militants carried out a land, sea, and air assault into southern Israel, rampaging through army bases and nearby communities, the AP reports. The attack—the single deadliest on Israel in its history—killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the militants abducted another 250.

• Halevi's resignation, effective March 6, came days into the ceasefire with Hamas that could lead to an end to the 15-month war and the return of remaining captives. Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, head of Israel's Southern Command, which oversees operations in Gaza, also resigned.
• Their resignations will likely add to calls for a public inquiry into the Oct. 7 failures, something Netanyahu has said must wait until the war is over. Halevi's resignation letter noted that the military's investigations into those failures were "currently in their final stages."
• Halevi made his most explicit call yet for a public inquiry in comments to journalists, saying it would be "granted full transparency" by the military.
• While a fragile new ceasefire in the Gaza Strip held, Israel launched a "significant and broad" military operation in the occupied West Bank, killing at least nine people and injuring 40, Palestinian officials said.

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)