Leaked recording reveals ex-Israeli military intelligence chief calling 50,000 deaths in Gaza ‘necessary'
'For everything that happened on October 7, for every one person on October 7, 50 Palestinians must die,' said Israel Defense Force's (IDF) Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva in the recordings released by Israel's Channel 12 news on Friday. 'It doesn't matter now if they are children.'
'The fact that there are already 50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations,' Haliva said in the recordings.
It's unclear when he was speaking, but the number killed in Gaza surpassed 50,000 in March.
'There is no choice — every now and then, they need a Nakba in order to feel the price,' Haliva said. The Nakba, or 'catastrophe' in Arabic, is a seminal event in Palestinian history when roughly 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes by armed Jewish groups in 1948 during the establishment of the State of Israel.
Haliva was head of Israeli military intelligence on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched attacks on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 more kidnapped. He resigned his position in April 2024 over his 'leadership responsibility,' becoming the first senior IDF officer to do so.
The lengthy recordings appear to be from long conversations with Haliva, but Channel 12 does not identify the person with whom the retired officer is speaking. Haliva's central claim throughout the recordings is that the Israeli military is not the only organization responsible for the failures that led to the October 7 attacks.
He places blame on Israel's political leadership and Shin Bet, the internal security service, for believing Hamas would not carry out an assault.
In a statement to Israel's Channel 12, Haliva said the recordings were said in a 'closed forum, and I can only regret that.'
He called the recordings 'fragments of partial things, which cannot reflect the full picture — certainly when it comes to complex, detailed issues, most of which are highly classified.'
Israel is facing mounting criticism over the war in Gaza and its new plans to occupy Gaza City. Last week, New Zealand's Prime Minister Christoper Luxon said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had 'lost the plot' and the takeover of Gaza City would be 'utterly, utterly unacceptable.'
On Friday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview with the Jyllands-Posten newspaper that 'Netanyahu is now a problem in himself.'
In a statement, Hamas condemned Haliva's remarks and said the audio recording 'confirms that crimes against our people are high-level decisions and official policy from the enemy's political and security leadership.'
A United Nations Special Committee report released last November found Israel's conduct in Gaza 'is consistent with the characteristics of genocide.' Last month, two Israeli human rights groups also accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. The Israeli military said the conclusion was 'entirely unfounded.'
Israel has repeatedly denied accusations of genocide, saying it is acting in accordance with international law.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
26 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Qatar urges a Gaza ceasefire after ‘positive response' from Hamas
JERUSALEM — A key mediator on Tuesday stressed the urgency of brokering a ceasefire in Gaza after Hamas showed a 'positive response' to a proposal, but Israel has yet to weigh in as its military prepares an offensive on some of the territory's most populated areas. The prospect of an expanded assault on areas sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians has sparked condemnation inside Israel and abroad. Most war-weary Palestinians see no place in Gaza as safe, not even declared humanitarian zones, after 22 months of war. Many Israelis, who rallied in the hundreds of thousands on Sunday, fear the offensive will further endanger the remaining hostages in Gaza. Just 20 of the 50 remaining are thought to be alive. 'If this (ceasefire) proposal fails, the crisis will exacerbate,' Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry, told journalists, adding they have yet to hear from Israel on it. Al-Ansari said Hamas had agreed to terms under discussion. He declined to provide details but said the proposal was 'almost identical' to one previously advanced by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. That U.S. proposal was for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some of the remaining hostages would be released and the sides would negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest. 'If we get to a deal, it shouldn't be expected that it would be instantaneously implemented,' al-Ansari said. 'We're not there yet.' That cautious assessment came a day after the foreign minister of Egypt, the other Arab country mediating the talks, said they were were pushing for a phased deal and noted that Qatar's prime minister had joined negotiations between Hamas leaders and Arab mediators. Witkoff has been invited to rejoin the talks, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told The Associated Press. Witkoff pulled out of negotiations less than a month ago, accusing Hamas of not acting in good faith. It was not clear how Witkoff has responded to the invitation. A senior Israeli official said Tuesday that the country's position on a ceasefire 'is consistent and has not changed.' 'Israel demands the release of all 50 hostages in accordance with the guidelines set by the Cabinet to end the war,' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a final push is needed to 'complete the defeat of Hamas.' He has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas has been disarmed. Hospitals in Gaza said they had received the bodies of 28 Palestinians killed Tuesday, including women and children, as Israeli strikes continued across the territory. Among them were nine people killed while seeking aid, officials at two hospitals told The Associated Press. The deaths were recorded across Gaza, including in central Deir al Balah, southern Khan Younis and near aid distribution points, hospital officials said. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed private American contractor that has become the primary distributor of aid in Gaza since May, operates those sites. Nasser Hospital also said an airstrike killed a mother, father and three children in their tent overnight in Muwasi, a camp for hundreds of thousands of civilians. 'An entire family was gone in an instant. What was their fault?' the children's grandfather, Majed al-Mashwakhi, said, sobbing. Neither the GHF nor Israel's military immediately responded to questions about the casualties reported by Nasser, Awda and al-Aqsa hospitals. The Palestinian death toll in the war surpassed 62,000 on Monday, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The ministry does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half of them. In addition to that toll, other Palestinians have died from malnutrition and starvation, including three reported in the past 24 hours, the ministry said Tuesday. It says 154 adults have died of malnutrition-related causes since late June, when it began counting such deaths, and 112 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Aid groups continue to struggle to deliver supplies to Gaza, where most of the population is displaced, large swaths are in ruins and experts say the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out.' Israel imposed a full blockade in March, then allowed limited aid to resume two and a half months later. The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said 370 trucks of aid entered Tuesday — still below the 600 per day that the United Nations and partners say is needed. Israel has controlled all Gaza border crossings since seizing the Palestinian side of Rafah in May 2024. With land routes restricted, some countries have attempted to deliver supplies by air and sea. Aid workers face mounting danger, the U.N. warned Tuesday. Its humanitarian office said a record 383 aid workers were killed worldwide in 2024, nearly half of them in Gaza. COGAT said Tuesday that 180 pallets of aid were airdropped into Gaza with help from countries including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and France. The U.N. and partners have called airdrops expensive, inefficient and even dangerous for people on the ground. A ship carrying 1,200 tons of food left Cyprus on Tuesday for the Israeli port of Ashdod loaded with pasta, rice, baby food and canned goods that were pre-screened in Cyprus. Metz, Gambrell and Magdy write for the Associated Press. Magdy reported from Cairo and Gambrell from Dubai. Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
New York Post
26 minutes ago
- New York Post
US says it played no part in release of Israeli official accused soliciting sex from minor
WASHINGTON — The US State Department said on Monday that the American government played no role in the release of an Israeli official charged with soliciting sex electronically from a minor. Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was one of eight people charged last week following an undercover operation 'targeting child sex predators,' the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a statement issued last week. Alexandrovich faces a felony charge of luring or attempting to lure a child or mentally ill person to commit a sex act 'with use of computer technology,' according to Nevada State court records reviewed by Reuters. 4 Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was one of eight people charged last week following an undercover operation 'targeting child sex predators,' the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a statement issued last week. Cybertech Global Tel Aviv Israeli media said on Thursday Alexandrovich, who they described as a senior department head in Israel's National Cyber Directorate, was released by US authorities and is back in Israel. Reuters could not establish why Alexandrovich was in the Las Vegas area, but at the time the city was hosting Black Hat, one of the cybersecurity industry's most prominent conferences. A representative for Black Hat said the conference did not share data on attendees. The report that an Israeli official accused of a felony sex crime was allowed to return home drew a storm of speculation online. Alexandrovich 'did not claim diplomatic immunity and was released by a state judge pending a court date. Any claims that the US government intervened are false,' the State Department said Monday on the social media site X. 4 The US State Department said on Monday that the American government played no role in the release of an Israeli official charged with soliciting sex electronically from a minor. X / @StateDept_NEA Bond paid The court records reviewed by Reuters show a $10,000 bond was posted in Alexandrovich's case at the Henderson Detention Center, southeast of Las Vegas, on August 7. Reuters could not immediately confirm Alexandrovich's whereabouts and could not immediately locate contact information for him. The records indicate he is due back in court on August 27. 4 Israeli media quoted the Prime Minister's Office as denying that Alexandrovich was arrested, saying only that a 'state employee' was 'questioned by American authorities during his stay.' POOL/AFP via Getty Images The Israeli Embassy in Washington and the Israeli Prime Minister's Office did not immediately return messages. Israeli media quoted the Prime Minister's Office as denying that Alexandrovich was arrested, saying only that a 'state employee' was 'questioned by American authorities during his stay' and he had 'returned to Israel as scheduled.' Reuters could not immediately ascertain the circumstances around Alexandrovich's arrest. The Las Vegas police statement credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nevada Attorney General's office, the Henderson Police Department, the North Las Vegas Police, and the Department of Homeland Security with helping to pull off the undercover operation. The FBI referred Reuters to a statement from the Nevada US Attorney's office, which in turn said the case was being prosecuted by the District Attorney's office in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas and Henderson. 4 Alexandrovich faces a felony charge of luring or attempting to lure a child or mentally ill person to commit a sex act 'with use of computer technology,' according to Nevada State court records. TNS via Getty Images The District Attorney's office did not immediately reply to an email requesting a comment. The Nevada Attorney General's office referred questions to the Henderson Police Department, which did not return messages seeking comment. The North Las Vegas Police referred questions to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, who did not return messages. The Department of Homeland Security did not reply to emails seeking comment.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Shari Redstone hoped Trump's '60 Minutes' suit would root out anti-Israel bias at CBS News
Shari Redstone said she partly welcomed President Trump's lawsuit against CBS News because she believed it could address the network's anti-Israel bias — even as she revealed that it was the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that finally moved her to sell CBS parent Paramount. 'We needed more balance,' Redstone, the former chair of Paramount Global, told The New York Times in interviews conducted after Paramount's $8 billion sale to Skydance Media closed earlier this month. 'Part of me thought, maybe Trump could accomplish what I never got done,' the entertainment heiress told the Times. 6 Shari Redstone, former Paramount chair, told the New York Times she partly welcomed Trump's lawsuit against CBS, hoping it would address the network's perceived anti-Israel bias. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Redstone told the Times that for years she had resisted entreaties from potential suitors eager to buy Paramount. But what pushed her to finally agree to sell the family business was the Oct. 7 massacre of an estimated 1,200 Israelis. 'Once that happened, I wanted out,' she told the Times. 'I wanted to support Israel, and address issues around antisemitism and racism.' But Redstone's plans for an exit were complicated by the 2024 presidential election. Weeks before voters went to the polling stations, Trump filed suit against '60 Minutes' alleging that the CBS News magazine show deceptively edited an interview with his Democratic opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, in order to make her look good. Last month, both sides reached a $16 million settlement — sparking widespread outrage. In her wide-ranging interview with the Times that was published on Tuesday, the 71-year-old media heiress, whose ex-husband and son are both rabbis, had grown increasingly frustrated with CBS News coverage she viewed as hostile to Israel. 6 Redstone had been frustrated by CBS News coverage of Israel. The image above shows Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Nablus on Aug. 11, 2025. AFP via Getty Images She told the Times that her breaking point came just days before she withdrew from settlement talks with Trump in January of this year. CBS aired a '60 Minutes' segment featuring State Department officials who quit over American support for Israel's Gaza war — a piece the American Jewish Committee blasted as 'shockingly one-sided, lacked factual accuracy, and relied heavily on misguided information.' The segment focused on alleged Israeli atrocities while barely touching on the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the conflict. Redstone wasn't alone in her concerns. Days after the segment aired, George Cheeks, who oversees CBS, shared Redstone's dismay about the Gaza episode and soon appointed veteran producer Susan Zirinsky as executive editor to review '60 Minutes' segments — stripping the show of its traditional independence from corporate interference. In April, the longtime executive producer of '60 Minutes,' Bill Owens, departed after Zirinsky's appointment undermined his autonomy. 6 President Trump sued CBS's '60 Minutes' for $20 billion over an edited Kamala Harris interview, which at the time complicated Paramount's $8 billion merger with Skydance. AP In June, Scott Pelley, the veteran '60 Minutes' correspondent, blasted his corporate bosses at Paramount on air, warning that 'honest' journalism at CBS might be ending if they went ahead and concluded a settlement with Trump. The anti-Israel bias allegations had been mounting for months at CBS News. In August 2024, the network's standards director Mark Memmott issued an internal directive ordering staff not to identify Jerusalem as part of Israel, calling its status 'disputed.' The memo sparked outrage from pro-Israel groups and contradicted US government policy recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Two months later, CBS executives reprimanded morning anchor Tony Dokoupil for pressing author Ta-Nehisi Coates about anti-Israel criticisms in his book. Dokoupil had asked whether Coates' writing belonged 'in the backpack of an extremist' — questions some CBS brass deemed too aggressive. Redstone defended Dokoupil in the wake of his rebuke. 'I think Tony handled that interview exceptionally well,' Redstone said at the time. 'I was genuinely proud of his efforts. Although it was difficult for me to oppose the company, I believe they erred in this instance… I have a voice in our platform, as does everyone.' 6 Trump alleged '60 Minutes' deceptively edited Kamala Harris's comments on Israel, sparking the lawsuit Redstone pushed Paramount to settle. 60 Minutes / CBS Redstone, who was widely criticized for backing a settlement rather than fighting in court, told the Times she was in favor of reaching a deal with Trump because the lawsuit was filed in Texas, where a more conservative judge would have been more hostile to CBS's position. She told the paper that 'this case was never as black-and-white as people assumed' — despite legal experts who said they were confident CBS News would prevail in court. 'I believe it was always in Paramount's best interest to settle,' Redstone told the Gray Lady in an interview published on Tuesday. 'We may not like the world we live in, but a board has to do what's in the best interest of shareholders.' While the criticism reached a fever pitch, Redstone's frustration boiled over as she battled cancer while trying to close the Paramount sale. Diagnosed with thyroid cancer that had spread to her vocal cords, she underwent surgery and radiation as critics including Matt Drudge of 'The Drudge Report' website branded her the 'Woman Who Destroyed CBS News.' Redstone was also hurt by criticism from Lesley Stahl, the longtime '60 Minutes' correspondent, according to the Times. In June, Stahl said she was 'angry' with Redstone over her handling of the Trump lawsuit. Stahl's comments were published at the same time that Redstone was undergoing treatments for cancer. 6 Redstone told the Times that criticism from CBS figures like Lesley Stahl was especially hurtful as she battled thyroid cancer during the merger fight. FilmMagic 'To have a news organization come under corporate pressure—to have a news organization told by a corporation, 'do this, do that with your story, change this, change that, don't run that piece.' I mean, it steps on the First Amendment, it steps on the freedom of the press,' Stahl said at the time. 'It steps on what we stand for. It makes me question whether any corporation should own a news operation. It is very disconcerting.' Trump's $20 billion lawsuit over CBS's editing of a Kamala Harris interview offered unexpected leverage. Though Redstone found most of Trump's claims 'hyperbolic,' she saw an opportunity. The network had edited Harris's answer about Israel between two broadcasts, sparking Trump's fury. CBS News executives refused to release the unedited footage, setting up a legal battle that threatened to derail the Skydance merger. Redstone pushed hard for settlement, arguing it was in shareholders' best interest. The board eventually agreed to pay $16 million toward Trump's presidential library — far less than Redstone expected. 'I was blown away,' she said of the settlement terms. 6 Redstone publicly backed 'CBS Mornings' co-host Tony Dokoupil (right) after he engaged in a tense interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates over Israel last year. CBS Mornings But her reputation took another hit when The Post reported a mysterious 'side deal' worth $20 million in free advertising for Trump. Redstone knew nothing about it and was upset. 'I hope it isn't true,' she told the Times. Adding insult to injury, CBS didn't even consult Redstone before canceling Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' — she learned about it minutes before Colbert announced it on air, according to the Times. The Skydance deal valued Paramount at just $8 billion — a third of its worth when Redstone took control in 2019. Netflix now spends $15.3 billion annually on content versus Paramount's $4.4 billion. 'I just wanted to be free,' Redstone told the Times, ending four decades of her family's controversial reign over one of America's most influential news organizations. The Post has sought comment from Redstone and CBS News.
