CrossFireArabia
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu erupted in anger during a cabinet meeting at the beginning of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, after Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi briefed ministers on the first 48 hours of attacks and reported that Israeli warplanes had struck 1,500 targets. Netanyahu objected, asking, “Why not 5,000?”
CrossFireArabia
Israeli Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has decided to dismiss military spokesperson Daniel Hagari, who later managed to ensure his “forced” retirement from the service, Israel’s public broadcaster reported on Friday.
“The Chief of Staff decided to dismiss the spokesperson of the Israeli army, Daniel Hagari, from his position,” KAN reported.
However, it added that “the army spokesperson agreed with Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir that he would step down from his position in the coming weeks and retire from the Israeli army.”
The decision comes just two days after Zamir assumed his position, replacing former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, who led Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza for over 15 months before resigning.
The broadcaster noted that Hagari lost the confidence of Defense Minister Israel Katz and is in disagreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, but no further information was provided.
Tensions between the Israeli army and Defense Minister Katz have been escalating since January, particularly after Katz instructed Halevi to fully cooperate with an investigation by the state comptroller into the events of Oct. 7, 2023 according to Anadolu.
In a rare public response, the Israeli military said in a statement that “such matters should be resolved through direct dialogue between the defense minister and the chief of staff, not through the media.”
More than 48,400 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 111,800 have been injured in a brutal Israeli onslaught on Gaza since October 2023. The assault, which left the enclave in ruins, was paused under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold on Jan. 19.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
CrossFireArabia
Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi is set to travel to Washington on Sunday for talks with US military officials, the army said.
A military statement said Halevi will meet with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), and other senior officials to discuss key strategic and operational issues.
Halevi “will take the opportunity to express his gratitude to his counterparts for their support, commitment, and personal ties,” the statement said.
The three-day visit comes a few weeks before Halevi steps down.
Last month, the army chief of staff said he would resign as of March 6.
The visit comes as a ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, halting Israel’s genocidal war, which has killed more than 48,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave according to Anadolu.
CrossFireArabia
Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi resigns from office amidst recriminations in the Israeli military force about the conduct of the Israeli war on Gaza.
The news announcement is breaking on the social media. Halevi who holds the rank of Lieutenant General will officially resign as of 6 March 2025 and has informed Defense Minister Israel Katz of his decision.
His decision to quit as army boss follows a string of resignations by rank officers over the way the Israeli war on Gaza was being conducted and which it lasted 15 months.
Also with his resignations comes the announcement of the Southern Command Yaron Finkelman who says he wants to resign from his post.
Halevi he said he is resigning because he wants to take responsibility over the army’s security failure over the 7 October, 2023 debacle in which Hamas fighters enroaded the fence surrounding Gaza and captured about 250 Israeli hostages and in which up to 1200 people were killed.
Over the past months Halevi said he would resign but kept going on because of the bloody war in which over 45,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and over 96,000 wounded.
Halevi leaves the army with an arrest warrant on his head together with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. It was issued against them back in November 2024 for his atrocities in Gaza.
The war on Gaza, described as a genocide and ethnic cleansing created much tension within the Israeli rank-and-file over the conduct of the war but fell well short of a rebellion.
CrossFireArabia
According to different Israeli media sources Israeli soldiers traveling abroad are now threatened with arrest in different countries for their war crimes in Gaza.
KAN, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that there are now many attempts to prosecute Israeli soldiers abroad showing that about 50 complaints have been filed against reserve soldiers in the Israeli army, and investigations have been opened in 10 countries with the numbers set to increase in the coming days.
Quoting security sources, KAN stated that the countries it described as friendly to Israel do not pose a direct or immediate threat with mass arrest warrants, and no official instructions have been issued to prevent travel to specific countries, despite some of them being considered problematic.
It added cases are dealt with individually, especially those related to soldiers with dual citizenship, such as South Africa, and/or soldiers with intelligence information against them.
A few days ago, the Israeli media reported an Israeli soldier wanted in Brazil managed to leave the country before being arrested. This comes after the Brazilian judicial authorities issued an urgent order for his arrest on the basis of a complaint filed by a human rights organization accusing him of committing crimes in Gaza.
Haaretz reported the Israeli army warned reserve soldiers abroad of the possibility of being arrested for participating in the war on Gaza.
For its part, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar held a meeting of a ministerial team to discuss “ways to protect Israelis and Jews abroad.”
During the meeting, Sa’ar called for immediate and clear measures to deal with these issues, while directing the army to educate soldiers not to publish documentation of their crimes. He also stressed the need to monitor international organizations that work to legally prosecute Israeli soldiers.
For his part, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid described the incident of the soldier’s smuggling from Brazil as a “diplomatic failure” for the government, and criticized its failure to legally protect the soldiers, wondering how the Palestinians could become a more influential force on the international scene compared to Israel.
Human rights reports revealed the collection of information related to crimes committed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza, including the publication of video clips documenting these violations, with the aim of pushing local authorities in various countries to arrest them.
Israel Hayom reported that mothers of Israeli soldiers sent a sharp letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, demanding legal protection for their sons, warning of the consequences of international courts, especially with the decline in the independence of the Israeli judiciary.
Professor of international law William Schabas ruled out the possibility of Israel succeeding in protecting its soldiers involved in war crimes and genocide, pointing to the lack of credibility of the Israeli judicial system.
In the same context, Dr. Muhannad Mustafa explained that international prosecutions constitute an obsession for Israel, due to the repercussions they carry on accountability files and the absence of justice domestically as reported by the Palestine Information Center.
