Israeli military intelligence chief resigns over failure to prevent October 7 attack
Tel Aviv (AP): The head of Israel's military intelligence directorate resigned on Monday over the failures surrounding Hamas' unprecedented October 7 attack, the military said, becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the deadliest assault in Israel's history.
Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva's resignation sets the stage for what's expected to be more fallout from Israel's top security brass over Hamas' attack that killed 1,200 people, most civilians, while taking roughly 250 hostages into Gaza. That attack set off the war against Hamas in Gaza, now in its seventh month.
The military said in a statement that Haliva had asked to end his service “following his leadership responsibility.” Shortly after the war, Haliva had publicly said that he shouldered blame for not preventing the assault as the head of the military department responsible for providing the government and the military with intelligence warnings and daily alerts.
The military said in the statement that the military chief of staff accepted Haliva's request to resign and thanked him for his service.
Haliva, as well as other military and security leaders, were widely expected to resign in response to the glaring failures that led up to October 7 and those that made it such a devastating attack.
But the timing of the resignations is unclear, because Israel is still fighting Hamas in Gaza and battling the Lebanese group Hezbollah in the north. Tensions with Iran are also at a high following attacks between the two enemies.
While Haliva and others have accepted blame for failing to stop the attack, others have stopped short, most notably Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he will answer tough questions about his role but has not outright acknowledged any responsibility for allowing the attack to unfold.
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Woman duped of Rs 25 lakh in fake Canada visa scam; 1 held
Shimla (PTI): A woman has been arrested from Punjab for allegedly duping another woman of Rs 25 lakhs by promising her to arrange a visa for Canada, police said on Monday.
The accused has been identified as Manju Kumari, a resident of Punjab.
Senior Superintendent of Police SSP Shimla Gaurav Singh said that Manju had contacted the woman several months ago and had promised her to arrange a visa for Canada.
"After this, she asked for money for the same from the victim, which she transferred to her on multiple occasions. However, as time went by, Manju started to make various excuses and ignored her calls," the SSP said.
Upon suspecting being defrauded, the victim's brother registered a complaint, and a case was registered under sections 318 (4) (cheating), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) and 352 (2) (intentional insults designed to provoke a breach of peace) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the SSP said.
"Police teams were sent to Haryana and Punjab, but she kept evading arrest as she kept changing her locations as well as her mobile numbers. However, the police teams successfully arrested her on Sunday from a flat located in Kharar in Punjab," he said.
Further investigation into the matter is underway, and the defrauded money is also being recovered, he added.
