Israeli military intel chief resigns amid ‘new step’ in war
GAZA STRIP
Israel's military intelligence chief has resigned after taking responsibility for failures leading to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, the military said on April 22, as Israel carried out more shelling in war-battered Gaza overnight.
General Aharon Haliva is the first top Israeli official to step down for failing to prevent the Hamas attack, which triggered the war in Gaza and brought the government and military under intense scrutiny in Israel.
"The intelligence division under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with," Haliva said in his resignation letter.
“I carry that black day with me ever since, day after day, night after night. I will carry the horrible pain of the war with me forever,” he wrote.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid welcomed the resignation, saying it was “justified and dignified.”
In a message to mark Jewish holiday of Passover, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “deliver additional and painful blows” to Hamas in Gaza.
“In the coming days, we will increase the military and political pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages,” he said in a video statement.
Israel estimates that 129 captives remain in Gaza, including 34 who the military says are dead.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement that “the chief of staff has approved the next steps for the war,” without offering details.
“On Passover, it will be 200 days of captivity for the hostages… We will fight until you return home to us,” he said.
The promise of more military pressure came amid growing global opposition to Israel's offensive in Gaza, which has turned vast areas of the territory into rubble and sparked a dire humanitarian crisis including fears of famine.
Gaza was hit by heavy shelling overnight, with strikes reported in several areas in the center and south of the besieged territory, an AFP correspondent said on April 22.
210 bodies recovered from mass graves
Meanwhile, Palestinian civil defense authorities on April 22 said that it had now uncovered 210 bodies from a temporary burial ground inside the main hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Associated Press reported the burial area in the Nasser Hospital was built when Israeli forces were besieging the facility last month.
In a statement, the department said a total of 210 bodies have been recovered from the hospital yard since April 19.
US hints sanctions
The United States appears close to sanctioning an Israeli military unit over alleged human rights violations in the West Bank, a move the Israeli prime minister angrily denounced as "the height of absurdity."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted at such steps when asked by a reporter in Italy about reports that his department had recommended cuts in military aid to an Israeli unit involved in violent incidents in the West Bank.
In late 2022, the State Department directed embassy staff in Israel to investigate alleged abuses in the West Bank by the army's ultra-Orthodox Netzach Yehuda battalion.
Although the allegations precede the Hamas attacks and Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza, the suggestion of any sanctions against Israeli forces drew an angry response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"At a time when our soldiers are fighting the monsters of terror, the intention to impose a sanction on a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low. The government headed by me will act by all means against these moves,” he posted on social media platform X.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant similarly slammed the possibility of sanctions, after discussing the issue with army chief Herzi Halevi.
"The commanders and troops of the Netzach Yehuda battalion operate on the frontline - since the outbreak of the war, they have been working to push Hezbollah forces from the northern border, to thwart terrorism in Judea and Samaria, and most recently, they are operating to dismantle Hamas brigades in Gaza," he said, adding that they were operating in line with international law and the Israeli military's values.
He urged Washington "to withdraw its intention to impose sanctions" on the battalion.
The Axios website, citing three U.S. sources with knowledge of the matter, reported that Blinken was expected to announce sanctions against the battalion "within days."