Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Netanyahu to follow Halevi and resign from his position [Getty]
The head of Israel‘s military resigned on Tuesday, taking responsibility for its “failure” to stop Hamas’s 7 October attack, days after a fragile truce took effect following 15 months of war in the Gaza Strip.
In his resignation letter, released by the army, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said he would step down from his position on 6 March “due to my acknowledgement of responsibility for the [military’s] failure on 7 October”.
Shortly after his announcement, Major General Yaron Finkelman also resigned. Finkelman headed Israel’s southern military command, which is responsible for Gaza.
Hamas’s attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
In response, Israel launched a devastating assault on Gaza, killing more than 47,100 people – most of them civilians – and levelling much of the strip.
The attack saw 251 people taken prisoner in Gaza and created an unprecedented crisis for the country’s top leadership.
Ninety-one hostages remain in captivity, more than a third of whom the military says are dead.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed early in the war to crush Hamas and to bring home all the hostages.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Tuesday called on Netanyahu to follow Halevi’s example.
Saying he saluted the military chief for stepping down, Lapid added: “Now, it is time for them to take responsibility and resign — the prime minister and his entire catastrophic government.”
‘Maintain this calm’
After months of fruitless negotiations, mediators Qatar and the United States announced a ceasefire that took effect Sunday, on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president.
Trump, who claimed credit for the agreement, said he doubted the deal would hold as he took office for a historic second term.
“That’s not our war; it’s their war. But I’m not confident,” he said.
However, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that if Israel and Hamas acted “in good faith, this will last and hopefully… will lead to a permanent ceasefire”.
Since the truce took effect, desperately needed humanitarian aid has begun to flow into Gaza, and Palestinians displaced by the war have headed back to their homes in devastated areas of the territory, hopeful the agreement would last.
Displaced Gazan Ghadeer Abdul Rabbo, 30, told AFP she hoped that “with or without Trump”, the ceasefire would hold and world governments would help “maintain this calm, because we are afraid”.
The truce has so far seen Israel and Hamas conduct one exchange of hostages for prisoners.
Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP that another four Israeli women hostages would be freed on Saturday in exchange for a second group of Palestinian prisoners.
‘We will rebuild’
If all goes to plan, Israel will release around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 33 Israeli captives held in Gaza during the 42-day first phase of the truce.
Over those six weeks, the parties are meant to negotiate a permanent ceasefire.
In the final phase, militants would return the bodies of dead hostages, while the reconstruction of Gaza would get under way.
The first day of the truce saw 90 Palestinian detainees freed from an Israeli jail and three Israeli prisoners released in Gaza.
The war has devastated much of the Gaza Strip and displaced the vast majority of its population of 2.4 million.
More than 900 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Monday, the UN said.
The day the deal came into force, 630 trucks entered Gaza.
In Rafah, in southern Gaza, Ismail Madi said that “we have endured immense hardships, but we will stay here. We will rebuild this place.”
West Bank violence
While there was quiet in Gaza, violence flared in the occupied West Bank, with the Israeli military launching a deadly operation in the area of Jenin, a bastion of Palestinian militancy.
The Palestinian health ministry, based in Ramallah, said Israeli forces had killed eight people in the operation, which Netanyahu said aimed to “eradicate terrorism” in Jenin.
