AhlulBayt News Agency: Israel’s military announced the removal of several senior commanders and the reprimand of others, after Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir described the October 7, 2023 Hamas operation as a sweeping and “systemic failure” of the entity’s defenses.
The decision, made public on Sunday, targeted top figures in intelligence, operations, and southern command portfolios.
According to the military’s statement, some officers were formally notified that they would be released from reserve service and removed from the armed forces. Others received official reprimands, while one officer was dismissed entirely, and another chose to resign.
The dismissed figures included former heads of the intelligence directorate, operations directorate, and southern command—commanders who had already stepped down from active duty but continued serving as reservists.
Chief of Staff Zamir admitted the entity “failed in its primary mission on October 7” to protect “Israelis,” calling the day’s events a “severe, resounding, systemic failure” rooted in flawed decision-making before and during the attack. He stressed that lessons learned “must serve as our compass for the future.”
According to broadcaster KAN, Zamir’s decisions ended the reserve service of several retired generals, including former Military Intelligence chief Aharon Haliva, former Southern Command chief Yaron Finkelman, and former Operations Directorate chief Oded Basyuk.
These officers had already been removed from their command posts earlier, but the new measures fully terminated their reservist status.
Zamir also dismissed Gaza Division reserve commander Avi Rosenfeld, while the division’s intelligence officer was expelled from the army altogether, KAN reported.
Other senior officers, including Air Force commander Tomer Bar, current Military Intelligence chief Shlomi Binder, and Navy commander David Saar Salama, received “leadership remarks” but were not dismissed.
KAN added that Haliva and former Unit 8200 commander Yossi Sariel did not attend Sunday’s hearings “due to scheduling reasons” and will face review later before their reserve service is formally terminated.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has resisted growing calls for an independent inquiry into the collapse of the entity’s defenses. On Saturday night, thousands of demonstrators, joined by opposition leaders, rallied in “Tel Aviv” demanding a formal commission of investigation.
Since October 7, the entity has waged a devastating war on Gaza, launched after Hamas and allied resistance groups carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in response to decades of occupation.
Although a ceasefire deal effective October 10 required the entity to halt its assault and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza in exchange for the release of captives, Gaza’s Government Media Office reported Saturday that “Israel” violated the agreement at least 497 times over 44 days, killing 342 Palestinian civilians and wounding 875 more, most of them children, women, and the elderly.
/129
Your Comment