Outgoing military chief Herzi Halevi calls for a wider examination of the failures on October 7, 2023.
Former tank commander Eyal Zamir has been sworn in as Israel’s new military chief amid growing uncertainty over the expired ceasefire in Gaza.
Previously director of the defence ministry, the 59-year-old replaces chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, who resigned in January admitting he had failed to fulfil his mandate.
At his swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday at military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Zamir said he was ready for the challenges ahead, noting that while “Hamas has indeed suffered a severe blow … it has not yet been defeated. The mission is not yet accomplished.”
Speaking before Zamir, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “determined” to achieve victory in its war.
Fighting in Gaza has been halted since January under the first phase of a multistage truce brokered by Qatar and Egypt and supported by the United States that has allowed the exchange of 33 Israeli captives and 5 Thai captives for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
But some Israeli ministers have warned that their forces could resume fighting if there is no agreement on bringing back the 59 captives that remain.
Israeli troops have pulled back from some of their positions in Gaza but talks that were intended to agree on a second phase of the truce that would see the release of the remaining living captives and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces before an end to the war have not begun.
Israel has called for an extension of the first phase truce until April to allow the release of the remaining captives, while Hamas has insisted on sticking to the agreement made in January, which calls for talks on a permanent end to the war, before agreeing to any more releases.
Inquiries
Zamir’s swearing-in comes as a series of official inquiries have begun to examine the Israeli failures that failed to prevent the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in the attack and approximately 250 others were taken captive in one of the biggest military and security disasters in Israel’s history.
Halevi led the military during the Israeli assault on Gaza that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians and destroyed much of the territory, leaving most of the population sheltering in tents or bombed-out buildings.
But he announced in January, soon after the Gaza ceasefire deal was agreed, that he would step down from his command, accepting responsibility for the military’s response to the October 7 attack.
On Wednesday, as he handed over his command, he called for a wider examination of the failures on October 7, 2023.
“The establishment of a state commission of inquiry is necessary and essential – not to place blame, but first and foremost, to understand the root of the problems and allow for correction,” he said.
Both the Israel military and the Shin Bet security agency have acknowledged that their failures allowed the attack to take place, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far resisted a more general inquiry that would look at the responsibility of his government.
The new commander will also have to respond to accusations from international bodies, including the United Nations, that Israeli troops committed war crimes during the campaign in Gaza.
Israel rejects those charges, but it has indicted some individual reservist soldiers for severe abuse of detainees.
Israel says Hamas, which has also been accused of war crimes by United Nations bodies, committed multiple atrocities during the October 7 attack and severely abused Israeli captives in Gaza. Hamas denies the accusations.