Israeli army unit commander resigns over Oct. 7 attack

September 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The commander of the Israeli Army’s 8200 unit, Yossi Sariel, has resigned over Israel’s security failure during the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militias, which left 1,200 dead and 240 hostages.

“The responsibility for the involvement of unit 8200 in intelligence and the operational failure lies entirely with me,” he said in a letter sent to his superiors and published by the Israeli newspaper ‘The Jerusalem Post’.

In the letter, Sariel acknowledged that despite the information they had about the possible plans of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), they were unable to understand the real needs on the border with the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a brief statement that Sariel, who took up the post in February 2021 following the retirement of Brigadier General Asaf Jochan, will be replaced “in the upcoming period.”

An investigation by The New York Times has singled out Unit 8200 as one of the main culprits of the failure of the Israeli security operation, having stopped monitoring the radio stations of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) because it was considered “a waste of time.”

Major General Aharon Haliva, head of the Israel Defense Forces’ military intelligence directorate, resigned in late April for the same reasons, becoming the first senior army official to acknowledge responsibility.