Israeli military intelligence chief admits responsibility for October 7 attack failures

On August 21, Major General Aharon Haliva, the outgoing head of Israeli military intelligence, publicly accepted responsibility for the intelligence failures that led to the devastating attack on October 7.

Haliva, who has served in the military for 38 years, had announced his resignation in April and was one of several senior Israeli commanders to acknowledge their inability to prevent what has been described as the deadliest attack in Israel's history, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

At his resignation ceremony, Haliva stated, "The failure of the intelligence corps was my fault" and called for a national investigation to thoroughly examine and understand the causes behind the conflict with Hamas.

The attack, which began in the early hours of October 7 with a massive rocket barrage, saw thousands of Hamas fighters and other militant groups breach security barriers around Gaza, catching Israeli forces off guard. This led to significant casualties, with around 1,200 Israelis and foreigners killed and approximately 250 taken captive.

The incident severely damaged the reputation of the Israeli military and intelligence agencies, which were previously considered nearly invincible against armed groups like Hamas. Despite the fallout, Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, the head of the armed forces, and Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence agency, have both taken responsibility but remain in their positions as the conflict continues.