Israel: army chief of staff resigns over October 7 failure

Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi resigned on Tuesday, acknowledging his responsibility in the “failure” to prevent the attack by Palestinian Hamas on October 7, 2023, on the third day of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

After the entry into force on Sunday of the first phase of the truce which allowed the release of three Israeli hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners, the Islamist movement Hamas announced that it would release four other Israeli women captive in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

According to the Israeli army, three or four women kidnapped will be released every week, during this phase which should last 42 days.

This marked the start of a still uncertain process intended to put an end in principle to the war, triggered by the unprecedented attack by Hamas which took power in Gaza in 2007.

Recognizing my responsibility in the failure of the army on October 7 [2023] in the south of Israel, I request to terminate my functionswrote General Halevi in ​​his resignation letter.

But he admitted that the objectives of the war [n’avaient] not all were reachedemphasizing that the army will continue to fight to continue the dismantling of Hamas and for the return of [tous les] hostages.

Now it is time for them to take responsibility and resign, the Prime Minister and his entire catastrophic government.

The Hamas attack led to the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 91 are still hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom are dead according to the army.

In retaliation, Israel launched a devastating offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip, which left at least 47,107 people dead, mostly civilians, according to Hamas Health Ministry data, and caused a humanitarian disaster.

According to General Halevi, some 20,000 agents of Hamas were killed during the war, as were the majority of his direction.

Trump doubts truce will hold

After a year of laborious negotiations, Qatar and the United States, two mediator countries with Egypt, announced a ceasefire agreement on January 15, a few days before Donald Trump’s return to the White House. .

After his inauguration on Monday, Mr. Trump nevertheless declared that he was not not sure let the truce hold.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al-Thani called on him, Israel and Hamas to demonstrate good faith to enforce the agreement.

Any violation or political decision could obviously lead to his collapsesaid the spokesperson for Qatari diplomacy.

I remain optimistic as for the success of the truce, Yitzhak, a 59-year-old bus driver, said in Jerusalem. Things will change now that Trump is in power.

By congratulating Donald Trump on Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his desire destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and end its political power in Gazaafter having said that he reserved the right to resume the war.

Hamas said the truce depended on respect des engagements by Israel.

Massive Hamas deployment in Gaza

Considerably weakened, this movement is however still far from being wiped out, according to experts.

After the truce, armed and hooded Hamas fighters were seen in areas of Gaza, while members of the security forces, in uniform, were deployed in several streets, according to AFP images.

What we want is order and securitysaid Abdelrahmane Al-Bardawil in Gaza City, in the north of the Palestinian territory. The government deployed in forcehe congratulated himself.

During the first phase of the truce, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held by Israel, and the Israeli army is to withdraw from areas of Gaza.

During the same period, 600 humanitarian aid trucks are expected to enter the Palestinian territory every day. Monday, 915 trucks entered there, according toHIM.

A field of ruins

In the meantime, thousands of Palestinians, displaced like almost all of the territory’s 2.4 million inhabitants, have returned to their homes amid mountains of rubble to find ruins. In Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip, residents set up tents in front of their destroyed homes.

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According to theHIMthe reconstruction of the territory, where almost 70% of the buildings were damaged or destroyed, will take up to 15 years.

The rest of the timetable for the truce agreement remains uncertain. The terms of the second phase, which should see a definitive end to the war and the release of all hostages, must be negotiated over the next six weeks.

If the first two stages go as planned, the third and final will focus on the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the bodies of dead hostages.

In the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, the Israeli army announced that it had launched a military operation in Jenin to eradicate terrorism. Ten Palestinians were killed according to the Palestinian Authority.

And in Tel Aviv, four people were injured, including one seriously, in a knife attack, emergency services announced. The attacker, described as terrorist by the police, was killed.