JERUSALEM — Israel’s top general resigned on Tuesday, citing security and intelligence failures related to a surprise attack by Hamas that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Israel launched a major military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, which the Palestinian Ministry of Health said killed at least six people and wounded 35.
Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi is Israel’s highest-ranking official who resigned amid security concerns on Oct. 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists led by Hamas carried out land, sea and air attacks on southern Israel, raiding military bases again. nearby communities hours.
This attack killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took another 250 hostages. More than 90 hostages are still being held in Gaza, and it is believed that about a third of them have died.
In his resignation letter, Halevi said the soldiers, under his command, “failed in their mission to protect the state of Israel.” Halevi, who began his intended three-year term in January 2023, said his resignation will take effect on March 6.
Israel earlier announced a “significant and extensive military operation” against Palestinian militants in Jenin. The city has seen repeated Israeli and military attacks in recent years, even before the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that started the war in Gaza.
The latest move comes days into a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza that is set to last six weeks and free 33 hostages held by the terrorists in return for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel. The three hijackers and 90 prisoners were released on Sunday, when the operation began.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want an independent state that includes all three areas.
The ceasefire does not apply in the West Bank, which has seen violence since the start of the war. Israeli forces have carried out almost daily attacks that often involve gunfire.
There has also been an increase in attacks on Palestinians by Jewish extremists – including an explosion in two Palestinian villages on Monday night – and attacks on Palestinians in Israel.
Hamas has condemned Israel’s operation in Jenin, calling on Palestinians in the West Bank to step up their attacks.
The smaller and more powerful Islamic Jihad group also condemned the operation, saying it showed “Israel’s failure to achieve its goals in Gaza.” It also said it was a “huge effort” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to save his ruling coalition.
Netanyahu has faced criticism from his far-right allies over the cease-fire, which required Israeli troops to withdraw from residential areas in Gaza and saw the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including ringleaders convicted of involvement in deadly attacks in Israel.
The ceasefire has already seen Hamas return to the streets, showing that it still firmly controls the area despite 15 months of war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused extensive damage.
One of his old allies, Itamar Ben-Gvir, resigned from the government the day it took effect, weakening the coalition but still leaving Netanyahu with a majority in parliament. Another, right-wing leader, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has threatened to dismantle it if Israel does not resume hostilities after the first phase of the ceasefire expires in six weeks.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who say women and children make up more than half of the dead but would not say how many of the dead were non-combatants.
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