Israeli military intelligence chief resigns over failure to prevent Oct. 7 attack

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli military said Monday the head of its intelligence corps has resigned over the failures surrounding Hamas’ unprecedented Oct. 7 attack, which broke through Israel’s vaunted defenses.

Aharon Haliva, the head of Israel’s military intelligence, becomes the first senior Israeli figure to step down Hamas’ attack, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with roughly 250 more taken captive, and sparked the six-monthlong war against Hama sin Gaza.

Haliva said shortly after the attack in October that he shouldered the blame for not preventing the assault.

The Israeli military said in a statement that the military chief of staff accepted Haliva’s request to resign and thanked him for his service.

His resignation could set the stage for more of Israel’s top security brass to accept blame for not preventing the attack and step down.