‘50 Palestinians for 1 Israeli’: Ex-Israeli intel chief calls Gaza killings ‘necessary’; audio leaked

Former Israeli intelligence chief major general Aharon Haliva reportedly called tens and thousands of deaths in Gaza necessary and required for future generations

In the leaked audio recordings, Haliva, broadcast by Israel's Channel 12, the major general can be heard saying, “For everything that happened on October 7, for every one person on October 7, 50 Palestinians must die. It doesn’t matter now if they are children.”

Haliva also described the killing of more than 50,000 people in Gaza as “necessary,” adding, “Every now and then, they need a Nakba to feel the price.” The Nakba, meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the 1948 mass displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel.

Gaza’s death toll passed 50,000 in March. The remarks have drawn strong reactions, with Hamas condemning it by saying the recording proved that attacks on Palestinians were high-level policy.

Haliva led Israeli military intelligence on 7 October 2023, when Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others in southern Israel. He resigned in April 2024, citing responsibility for the intelligence failures that allowed the attack.

Channel 12 did not disclose who Haliva was speaking to in the conversations. Responding to the report, Haliva said the remarks were taken from a “closed forum” and described them as “fragments of partial things” that did not reflect the full picture.