Israeli military intelligence chief resigns over failure to prevent Oct 7 attack
World
Russia says West is teetering on brink of conflict between nuclear powers
Tel Aviv/Moscow (AFP/Reuters) - The Israeli military said Monday the head of Israel's intelligence corps has resigned over the failures surrounding Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 attack, which broke through Israel’s vaunted defences.
This comes as the United States appears close to sanctioning an Israeli military unit over alleged human rights violations in the West Bank.
The head of Israeli military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva, has resigned and will leave once a successor is appointed, the military said in a statement on Monday. Haliva is the first senior figure to step down over Hamas' attack on October 7.
Israeli leaders on Sunday harshly criticised an expected decision by the US to impose sanctions on a unit of ultra-Orthodox soldiers in the Israeli military.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the support of the United States, Britain and France for Ukraine was stoking serious strategic risks that had raised the risk of a direct confrontation between the world's biggest nuclear powers.
Lavrov said the United States and NATO were obsessed with the idea of inflicting "strategic defeat" on Russia and there were risks in such confrontation that could lead to an increased level of nuclear danger.
"The Westerners are teetering dangerously on the brink of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences," Lavrov said.
The United States and its allies say they are helping Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression and that it is Russia that is aggravating East-West tensions, including by issuing repeated warnings about the danger of a nuclear conflict.
Lavrov said: "Of particular concern is the fact that it is the 'troika' of Western nuclear states that are among the key sponsors of the criminal Kyiv regime, the main initiators of various provocative steps. We see serious strategic risks in this, leading to an increase in the level of nuclear danger."
The three Western countries with nuclear weapons are the United States, Britain and France.
