The Israeli military commander’s resignation has prompted a reaction from leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who have criticized the post-October 7 Israeli government as weakening it.
On Tuesday, Lieutenant General Helj Halevi, who announced his intention to resign on March 6, accepted responsibility for security failures during Hamas’ cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which started the conflict. .
Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami called the resignations “a clear sign of Zionist defeat in the Gaza war.”
“A victory in Gaza means a victory for Islam. This resistance is an inspiration for Muslims,” Salami said on Thursday.
Mohammad Reza Naghdi, deputy coordinator of the Revolutionary Guards, linked the resignation to broader challenges facing the Israeli government, saying its position had been significantly weakened by the resistance movement, Tehran’s term for proxy militias across the region. insisted.
“The Zionist regime, which considered itself the most powerful country in the region, is collapsing in the face of resistance from other countries,” Nagdi said.
In recent weeks, analysts and experts have pointed to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and the heavy losses suffered by Hezbollah and Hamas in recent military conflicts, leaving Iran significantly weakened. It has claimed to be an “axis of resistance.” Israel.
In his resignation letter to Israel’s defense minister, Lieutenant General Halevi acknowledged that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “failed in its mission to protect the Israeli people” during the deadly attack by Hamas.
“My responsibility for this terrible failure haunts me every day, every hour, and will continue to haunt me for the rest of my life,” he wrote.
The October 7 attack by the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas saw the militants breach the Israeli border from Gaza, leading to one of the region’s most devastating wars in recent memory, killing more than 1,400 people. Deaths were made, and more than 200 people were taken hostage.
