IDF’s Gaza Division head announces his resignation: ‘I failed in my life’s mission’

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Brig. Gen. Avi Rosenfeld, the commander of the Gaza Division during a handover ceremony in August 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)
Brig. Gen. Avi Rosenfeld, the commander of the Gaza Division during a handover ceremony in August 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)

The commander of the IDF’s Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Avi Rosenfeld, announces that he is resigning from the military over his involvement in the failures that led to Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.

In a letter to the head of the Southern Command and IDF chief of staff, Rosenfeld writes that “on October 7, I failed in my life’s mission to protect the [Gaza border communities].”

“I have decided to end my position as commander of the 143rd Division (the Gaza Division) and my service in the IDF, as part of my responsibility as a commander. Everyone has to take responsibility for their part and I am the one in charge of the 143rd Division,” he writes.

“As I promised, I will stay until my replacement takes over the role, and I will transfer command over the division in an orderly and responsible manner,” Rosenfeld continues.

“I intend to continue to take part in the investigations and the learning of lessons, to do everything so that what happened on October 7 does not happen in the future,” he says.

Rosenfeld is only the second senior officer in the IDF to resign over the October 7 attack, after the chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate announced he was quitting in April.

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