Gaza war, Israel intelligence chief resigns. Cars hit pedestrians in Jerusalem: three injured

«I have always carried that black day with me, day after day, night after night. Night. I will carry the terrible pain of war with me forever.” It is one of the passages in the resignation letter of the head of Israeli intelligence.

The head of Israel’s intelligence service has resigned over failures related to Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 attack, which breached Israel’s defenses. The IDF makes it known. Aharon Haliva, Israel’s military intelligence chief, becomes the first senior Israeli figure to resign since the Hamas attack, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 others prisoner, and unleashed the six-month war against Hama and Gaza. Shortly after the October attack, Haliva said he was at fault for failing to prevent the assault. The Israeli army said in a statement that the chief of staff accepted Haliva’s request to resign and thanked him for his service. His resignation could set the stage for other senior Israeli security officials to take responsibility for failing to prevent the attack and resign.

Three people were slightly injured when a car hit a group of pedestrians on Techelet Mordechai Street in Jerusalem. According to the police, cited by Haaretz, two assailants came out of the car, holding a weapon, which however apparently jammed. They then fled, only to be arrested shortly after, while trying to hide in a shop. Police said it was a ‘terrorist attack’.

At least five rockets were fired from the Iraqi city of Zummar, northwest of Mosul in Nineveh province, towards a US military base in northeast Syria. Iraqi security sources told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. It was the first attack against American forces since early February, when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq halted their attacks on American troops. The attack was carried out a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned from a visit to the United States where he met with US President Joe Biden. In a press note released by the Iraqi security forces we read that “outlaw elements hit an international coalition base in the heart of Syrian territory with rockets at around 9.50pm” local time. Following this attack, a “large search and inspection operation” was launched to identify the perpetrators of the launches, the statement reads.

Iraqi Shiite Kataib Hezbollah fighters say they have decided to resume attacks on US forces in the country after seeing little progress in talks to secure the withdrawal of US troops during Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani’s visit to Washington. The international media reported it. “What happened just now is the beginning,” the Iran-backed group says in what appears to be a reference to last night’s attack from northern Iraq on a base hosting American forces in Syria.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke yesterday with Israeli Ministers Benny Gantz of the War Cabinet and Yoav Gallant of Defense. This was announced by US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in a statement published on the US ministry’s website. Blinken «underlined the commitment of the United States and Israel’s security efforts and discussed measures to increase life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians» in the «Gaza Strip, the need for an immediate ceasefire that ensures the release of hostages and further measures to minimize harm to civilians,” the statement said, adding that Gantz and Gallant “also spoke about efforts to ensure the conflict does not spread” and the “importance of measures to ease tensions in the area”.

Several rockets were launched from northern Iraq in the direction of a base of the US-led international anti-jihadist coalition in Syria: the Iraqi security forces say so, saying they have found the vehicle used for the launch, adding that “a vast operation” to track down those responsible and inspection was launched in the province of Nineveh. This is the first attack of any size directed against international coalition troops, although several drones and rockets have been directed against American soldiers in the Middle East in recent months.