‘For every killed Israeli, 50 Palestinians must die,’ former military chief says in leaked recordings

Former head of Israeli army intelligence said killing 50,000 Palestinians, including children, was 'necessary'

Aharon Haliva, the former head of Israeli army intelligence, said killing 50 Palestinians for every dead Israeli was “necessary” to send a message to future generations, according to local media.

In a series of chilling leaked recordings, the commander, who resigned last year in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks, suggests that killing thousands of Palestinians, including children, was legitimate.

“For everything that happened on October 7, for every person who was killed on October 7, 50 Palestinians must die,” he said in the recordings, aired by Channel 12 and later published by other outlets. “I’m not speaking out of revenge; I’m speaking out of a message to future generations,” he added. “They need a Nakba every now and then to feel the price ... It doesn’t matter now if they are children."

Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in the October 7 attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Since then, Israel has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli army, under orders from the extremist-led government of Benjamin Netanyahu, has been starving Gaza’s population of more than two million since the attacks. Large parts of the besieged coastal enclave have been destroyed.

Last week, leaders of European Union institutions received a stark warning from their own staff that starvation in Gaza is set to exponentially increase without immediate action to press Israel to allow massive amounts of aid into the enclave.

The letter, signed by around 1,600 EU staff, uses simplified modelling methods to highlight that Gaza is on course to surpass 100 starvation-related deaths per day. Initially sent two weeks ago and now obtained by The National, it echoes warnings made by international humanitarian organisations.

No agreement

Gaza has been under a strict Israeli blockade for nearly two decades, with Israel controlling its imports and exports and imposing humiliating restrictions on movement.

It is not known exactly when the recordings were made. They latest in a series of public Israeli calls for the killing of Palestinians through war and famine. One official previously suggested striking Gaza with nuclear weapons.

Displaced Palestinians make their way towards the site of a humanitarian aid airdrop in Gaza. AFP

Mr Haliva appeared to confirm the recordings' authenticity when he told Channel 12 that the comments were made in a “closed forum”, adding: “I can only regret that.”

Human rights organisations and Arab and Western officials have for months accused Israel of committing war crimes and have demanded investigations into its acts of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocidal war”.

Earlier this month, Arab nations heavily criticised Israel's new plan to take control of much of Gaza, describing it as a "new stage of genocide", in some of the strongest comments made in the UN chamber.

Kuwait’s UN representative Tareq Al Banai, delivering the statement of the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, said that the new military operation “lays the groundwork for a new stage of genocide and forced discipline and undermines any chance of achieving a two-state solution”.

Algeria called Israel the “enemy of humanity” and urged the UN to impose sanctions on it.

The comments came during a special session of the UN Security Council called by the UK, France and Denmark. It was in response to the Israeli Cabinet approving new military operations in Gaza that include the takeover of Gaza city.

In other parts of the recordings, the former intelligence chief warned that the October 7 attacks could happen again, and claimed the Israeli government would prefer Hamas to take over not only Gaza, but also the occupied West Bank.

“Why? Because if the entire Palestinian arena is destabilised and crazy, it is impossible to negotiate with,” he said. “Then there will be no agreement on a Palestinian state or for peace.”