Israel Army Chief Sees Possibility for 'Sharp Conclusion' to Hezbollah Conflict

This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024.  (Photo by AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Israel Army Chief Sees Possibility for 'Sharp Conclusion' to Hezbollah Conflict

This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024.  (Photo by AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Israel's military chief said there was a possibility for a "sharp conclusion" to the conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, the military said on Thursday.

"In the north, there's a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion. We thoroughly dismantled Hezbollah's senior chain of command," Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said in a video statement from a security assessment in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Israel unleashed its Lebanon offensive with the declared aim of securing the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from homes in northern Israel during a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah.

Israel has used airstrikes to pound southern Lebanon, Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, and sent ground forces into areas near the border. Lebanese authorities say the campaign has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced more than 1 million people, spawning a humanitarian crisis.



Independent Israeli Commission Blames Netanyahu and Others for October 2023 Attack

A protester walks between vehicles as people protest demanding the release of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, ahead of a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 26, 2024. (Reuters)
A protester walks between vehicles as people protest demanding the release of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, ahead of a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Independent Israeli Commission Blames Netanyahu and Others for October 2023 Attack

A protester walks between vehicles as people protest demanding the release of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, ahead of a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 26, 2024. (Reuters)
A protester walks between vehicles as people protest demanding the release of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, ahead of a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 26, 2024. (Reuters)

The independent civilian commission of inquiry into the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel has found Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly responsible for the failures leading up to the attack, alongside former defense ministers, the army chief and the heads of the security services.

The civil commission presented its findings today after a four-month probe in which it heard some 120 witnesses. It was set up by relatives of victims of the Hamas attack, in response to the absence of any state probe.

The commission determined that the Israeli government, its army and security services “failed in their primary mission of protecting the citizens of Israel.”

It said Netanyahu was responsible for ignoring “repeated warnings” ahead of Oct. 7, 2023 for what it described as his appeasing approach over the years toward Hamas, and for “undermining all decision-making centers, including the cabinet and the National Security Council, in a way that prevented any serious discussion” on security issues.

The commission further determined that the military and defense leaders bear blame for ignoring warnings from within the army, and for reducing the army’s presence along the Gaza border while relying excessively on technological means.

On the day of the Hamas attack, the report says, the army’s response was both slow and lacking.

The civil commission called for the immediate establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack.

Netanyahu has opposed launching a state commission of inquiry, arguing that such an investigation should begin only once the war is over.