This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/6269353.stm
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Israel's military chief resigns | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| The head of Israel's armed forces, Lt Gen Dan Halutz, has resigned amid inquiries into last summer's conflict with Hezbollah, the military has said. | |
| Gen Halutz told PM Ehud Olmert he was quitting "as investigations have run their course", Reuters news agency quoted an army spokeswoman as saying. | Gen Halutz told PM Ehud Olmert he was quitting "as investigations have run their course", Reuters news agency quoted an army spokeswoman as saying. |
| Several internal inquiries are being conducted into the government and the army's handling of the 34-day conflict. | Several internal inquiries are being conducted into the government and the army's handling of the 34-day conflict. |
| The military was widely criticised for failing to achieve its war aims. | The military was widely criticised for failing to achieve its war aims. |
| Gen Halutz is one of a number of top political and military leaders who have been under growing pressure to step down in the wake of the war. | |
| "With the echoes of battle having faded, I have decided to act on my responsibility," the spokeswoman quoted him as saying in his resignation letter. | |
| Aerial barrage | |
| Israel attacked the Lebanon-based Hezbollah after the group captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid last July. | |
| But Israel failed to free the soldiers or soundly defeat Hezbollah before a ceasefire ended the fighting in August, with Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah claiming a strategic victory over Israel. | |
| The Israeli army lost 116 soldiers. Forty-three Israeli civilians were also killed by more than 4,000 Hezbollah rocket attacks. | The Israeli army lost 116 soldiers. Forty-three Israeli civilians were also killed by more than 4,000 Hezbollah rocket attacks. |
| About 1,000 Lebanese were killed in the conflict, mostly civilians in Israel's vast bombardment of the county and land invasion in the south. | About 1,000 Lebanese were killed in the conflict, mostly civilians in Israel's vast bombardment of the county and land invasion in the south. |
| Gen Halutz was personally criticised for relying on aerial barrages in the early days of the war, which caused extensive damage to Lebanon's infrastructure. | |
| The former air force head became chief of the armed forces in June 2005. |