Winds of change: New army chief Zamir signals IDF ready for long-term control of Gaza Strip

With the appointment of new Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, there have already been several significant changes to the military. 

Among the changes Zamir announced is an issue that was at the heart of a significant dispute between the political and military leadership since the Gaza War began: the distribution of humanitarian aid by the military. 

Former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi vehemently objected to the IDF's involvement in the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, which he worried would lead to the army having long-term control of the area.

Halevi was particularly averse to the appearance of martial law or an occupation scenario, fearing international criticism. In this position, Halevi had the full backing of former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. 

At the moment, an American company will be responsible for distributing humanitarian aid, which allows the IDF to avoid direct involvement in distribution on the ground but at the same time, not abandon the need to provide aid.

However, if the American company is unable to complete the mission, Zamir informed the political leadership that the IDF would be willing to carry out the distribution itself. 

An even more significant change that came with Zamir’s appointment as chief of staff touches on the external investigation of the IDF’s failures around Oct. 7 by the state comptroller. 

This follows the announcement earlier this week that Zamir appointed a special team to review all the Oct. 7 investigations carried out by the IDF, and potentially order clarifications and expansions, or even full reassessments.

In addition, since the Hamas massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the IDF has consistently objected to a state comptroller probing the army's activities before and on the day of the Hamas attack, citing the ongoing war as the priority. 

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman sharply criticized Halevi and the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, Ronen Bar, for blocking his efforts to lead an external investigation.

In January, Englman even accused Halevi of ordering the intimidation of senior officers and the covert recording of testimonies given to his staff.

At the Israel Energy and Environment Institute's 2025 National Energy Conference, Englman said, “I would like to congratulate Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on his assumption of office. I spoke with him last night and this morning, and we agreed that the State Comptroller will begin by examining the core issues that caused the failure on October 7. We also agreed with the head of the Shin Bet on full cooperation.” 

A few days ago, Shin Bet also agreed to allow the State Comptroller to investigate Shin Bet's own failures.  

Englman spoke about the need for a national probe that consolidates all existing investigations into a unified review. He said that each agency tends to only investigate based on “its own point of view.” 

“Exposure to IDF and Shin Bet investigations sharpens the fact that every body that investigates itself sees its own point of view, which is important in itself, but limited. Therefore, it is important to conduct an audit at the national level of all [other] levels.” 

The investigation by the State Comptroller is not the same as an independent investigation of all parties, which was supported by Halevi, Gallant, and nearly all of the hostages and victims and their families.  However, such an investigation will allow a more integrated look at how the defense and security organizations, as well as the government, failed to plan for and respond to the Hamas invasion on Oct. 7, 2023.