Israel’s New Army Chief Sworn Into Office: ‘Hamas Not Defeated, Mission Not Over’

Via The Cradle

The Israeli army’s new Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, was officially sworn into the position on 5 March, making a speech and vowing that the “mission” against Hamas has “not yet been completed.”

The ceremony comes over one month after the resignation of his predecessor, Herzi Halevi, was announced. “The IDF has achieved impressive achievements on the battlefield. We won battles in Gaza and Lebanon; we struck far away in Yemen and Iran. Hamas received a heavy blow, but it has not yet been defeated. The mission has not yet been completed,” Zamir said in his speech. 

“Our moral duty is clear: Bring everyone back home, in any way possible and as quickly as possible,” he added, addressing the families of the Israeli captives held by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

Halevi made a speech during the ceremony, calling for the establishment of a commission to probe the events of October 7, 2023. 

“The establishment of a state commission of inquiry is necessary and vital. Not to find someone to blame, but first and foremost to reach the source of the problems and allow for repair,” he said. “On 7 October, the IDF failed. It was a deep failure. But such a failure on this scale cannot only be investigated in the IDF and the Shin Bet.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently blocked such a commission from being formed. 

Herzi Halevi announced his resignation on January 21 over his failure to prevent Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Several other military and intelligence officials also have intentions of resigning over 7 October, including the chief of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, Ronen Bar. 

Several reports have emerged since the war in Gaza began, revealing that Israeli authorities ignored multiple warnings about Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

Halevi’s successor served as Netanyahu’s military secretary from 2012 to 2015. In his tenure as the head of the Israeli southern command, Zamir commanded troops in the 2018-2019 Great March of Return protests in Gaza, when over 150 Palestinians and 10,000 others were killed and wounded by the army. 

His inauguration comes as Israeli forces continue to violate two separate ceasefire deals – maintaining an occupation in south Lebanon and launching frequent attacks on the country, while obstructing the start of phase two in the Gaza agreement and threatening a return to war against the strip.