The IDF has decided to dismiss the officer who served as the Gaza Division’s intelligence chief during the October 7 massacre, concluding a lengthy administrative and legal process examining his command responsibility and professional failures surrounding the catastrophic Hamas invasion.

Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate, announced Thursday that Lt. Col. A. would have his military service terminated following a recommendation by an advisory committee tasked with reviewing whether his service commitment should be ended.

The decision followed months of proceedings, including a court challenge brought by Lt. Col. A. seeking to halt the process against him. The dismissal ultimately moved forward after the court rejected his arguments and cleared the IDF to continue its review.

The process stemmed from a decision made in November 2025 by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who concluded that several senior officers bore command responsibility for the failures surrounding October 7 and should face command measures. Lt. Col. A. was included among those officers because of the responsibilities he held as the Gaza Division’s intelligence officer at the time of the attack.

The IDF subsequently began examining whether to terminate Lt. Col. A.’s service after the Deputy Chief of Staff issued an opinion recommending that step. The advisory committee convened as part of that process, but its work was delayed after the officer raised a series of objections and requests concerning the proceedings.

The dispute eventually reached the courts. On March 23, 2026, Lt. Col. A. filed a petition challenging the planned convening of the committee. A day later, the court temporarily barred the committee from meeting and imposed a gag order covering details of the legal proceedings.

That temporary halt ended following a ruling issued in June. The court determined that the process launched against Lt. Col. A. was lawful and had been initiated by the appropriate military authorities. The proceedings were based on what the IDF described as professional mistakes, failures and command responsibility attributed to the officer.

The court also rejected the officer’s contention that the military lacked authority to take such action. It ruled that IDF regulations permit the military to initiate proceedings to terminate the service commitment of a servicemember found to have demonstrated professional or command failures. The judges additionally determined that Lt. Col. A. had been given an adequate opportunity to present his position and that his right to be heard had not been violated.

With the legal obstacle removed, the IDF resumed the administrative process. According to the military, the committee reviewed the Deputy Chief of Staff’s opinion, findings produced by the IDF’s internal investigations and professional assessments concerning Lt. Col. A.’s performance during the period leading up to the October 7 massacre.

The committee also heard Lt. Col. A.’s response to the allegations and considered his arguments regarding the degree of responsibility that should be assigned to him. The officer was permitted to present those arguments both in writing and orally.

Once the committee completed its review, it forwarded its recommendations to Maj. Gen. Bar Kalifa for a final determination.

Bar Kalifa ultimately accepted the recommendation to terminate Lt. Col. A.’s service commitment, bringing his IDF career to an end over the professional and command failures attributed to him in connection with the period surrounding October 7.

The military has formally notified Lt. Col. A. of the decision. He retains the right to appeal his dismissal directly to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.