Ex-Israel army intelligence chief mentioned 50,000 Gaza deaths ‘vital’ : NPR

TEL AVIV, Israel — Leaked audio recordings broadcast Friday reveal remarks by Israel’s former chief of army intelligence concerning the worth he believed Palestinians ought to pay for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault.

The tape recordings, aired by Israel’s Channel 12 TV, captured former Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva saying in Hebrew, “The truth that there are already 50,000 useless in Gaza is important and required for future generations.”

He went additional, saying that for each Israeli killed on Oct. 7, 50 Palestinians ought to die.

“It does not matter in the event that they’re youngsters. I am not talking out of revenge. I am speaking a couple of message for future generations. Now and again, they want a Nakba to really feel the price,” Haliva mentioned.

This picture constituted of video offered in December 2023 by Israeli Protection Forces exhibits Aharon Haliva, then the top of Israel’s army intelligence in Gaza Metropolis, Gaza Strip.

Israel Protection Forces/AP

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Israel Protection Forces/AP

The time period Nakba — or “disaster” — refers back to the mass displacement of lots of of 1000’s of Palestinians throughout the conflict that accompanied Israel’s creation in 1948.

It’s the first time a former senior Israeli army determine has been heard endorsing a excessive Palestinian dying toll in Israel’s practically two-year-long offensive in Gaza, saying it was “vital.” The date the remarks have been made was not broadcast.

Israeli politicians have beforehand made incendiary calls about “erasing” Gaza and combating “human animals” — rhetoric that has since been cited on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice in a case introduced by South Africa as proof Israel is pursuing genocide, which Israel denies.

However that is the primary such assertion to have been attributed to a determine at Haliva’s stage contained in the army institution.

“The remarks by former head of Navy Intelligence Aharon Haliva are a part of a protracted line of official statements that expose a deliberate coverage of genocide,” mentioned the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem in a submit on X.

Haliva oversaw Israeli army intelligence divisions within the lead-up to the largest intelligence failure in Israel’s historical past — the Hamas-led shock assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed practically 1,200 Israelis in accordance with Israeli authorities figures. Greater than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then, in accordance with the Palestinian well being ministry in Gaza.

He resigned from the army in April 2024, taking duty for the intelligence failures that allowed the Hamas assault and the kidnapping of greater than 250 Israelis, 50 of whom nonetheless stay in captivity.

Reflecting on these failures in different remarks aired by Israeli Channel 12, he admitted that Israeli intelligence had lengthy underestimated the menace from Gaza. For years, army assessments concluded that Hamas was deterred from launching a full-scale conflict — and that the larger hazard of assault got here from the West Financial institution, not Gaza.

These assumptions collapsed on the morning of Oct. 7, when Hamas fighters stormed Israeli communities and army bases and overran them, exposing deep vulnerabilities in Israel’s defenses.

Israeli Channel 12 broadcasted a response by Haliva, by which he confirmed the authenticity of the remarks leaked from a non-public dialogue, which he mentioned he regretted, and mentioned the quotes have been taken out of context.