Jerusalem: The outgoing head of Israeli military intelligence says responsibility for the intelligence breakdowns that allowed Hamas to carry out the deadliest attack in Israeli history on October 7 and sparked Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza rests with him.

At his handover ceremony on Thursday (AEST), Major-General Aharon Haliva said the failures would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Speaking alongside his successor, Haliva said the bitter memories of that day weighed on his conscience “day and night and will do so for the rest of my days”.

“We did not fulfil our most important mission, giving a warning of war,” he added, breaking down in tears at one point while he spoke about his family. “The ultimate responsibility for the failure of the intelligence division rests with me.”

In the early hours of October 7, following an intense rocket barrage, thousands of fighters from Hamas and other groups broke through cross-border security barriers from the Gaza Strip, surprising Israeli forces and rampaging through communities in southern Israel.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1200 people and kidnapped 250 others. The army has come under heavy criticism in Israel for its failure to predict the attack and its slow response on the day. Some 109 hostages are believed to still be in Gaza, around a third of whom are thought to be dead.

The 38-year veteran of the military announced his resignation in April and was one of a number of senior Israeli commanders who said they had failed to foresee and prevent the attack.

“The failure of the intelligence corps was my fault,” Haliva said at the ceremony, and he called for a national investigation “in order to study” and “understand deeply” the reasons that led to the war between Israel and Hamas.