Israel's army chief resigns over 'terrible failure' to prevent Hamas' 7 October attack

Israel's army chief has resigned, taking responsibility for security failures tied to 7 October 2023, when Hamas carried out a deadly attack that triggered the war in Gaza.

Lt Gen Herzi Halevi announced on Tuesday that he would resign on 6 March, admitting that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) "under my command failed in its mission to protect the citizens of Israel".

"My responsibility for the terrible failure accompanies me every day, hour by hour, and will do so for the rest of my life," he wrote in his resignation letter to Defence Minister Israel Katz.

Maj Gen Yaron Finkelman, head of Israel's Southern Command — which oversees operations in Gaza — also resigned on Tuesday.

Halevi and Finkelman are the most senior Israeli figures to resign over the security and intelligence breakdown on 7 October, when thousands of Palestinian Hamas gunmen from Gaza carried out a land, sea and air assault into southern Israel.

The attack — the single deadliest on Israel in its history — killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the militants abducted another 251. More than 90 captives are still being held in Gaza, around a third of whom are believed to be dead.

The IDF retaliated with an air and ground campaign in Gaza, kiling at least 47,000 Palestinians to date, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Announcing his resignation in a televised address, Halevi said the IDF's investigation into the 7 October attack would be completed before he stepped down from his role in March.

"A commission of inquiry or any other external body can investigate and examine and will receive full transparency from the IDF," he said.

His comments are likely to put more pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has delayed any public inquiry that could potentially implicate his leadership.

Netanyahu's administration has resisted appeals to open an inquiry into the government's responsibility for the attack, saying that it must wait until the war is over.

Halevi and Finkelman's resignations came days after a Gaza ceasefire and hostage and prisoner exchange deal was agreed between Israel and Hamas. The ceasefire is holding in its third day, but it is unclear what will happen after the deal's first phase of 42 days.

The agreement's subsequent stages call for more releases of hostages and prisoners and a permanent end to the now 15-month war.