The Israeli government on Sunday confirmed Major General Herzi Halevi, a former military intelligence head who led forces along the border with the besieged Gaza Strip, as the country’s next military chief. Halevi, 54, who serves as deputy to outgoing Chief of General Staff Aviv Kochavi, will take charge of Israel’s armed forces on 17 January, Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement. Halevi’s appointment at the end of Kochavi’s term comes as Israel has stepped up deadly raids in the occupied West Bank and just months after at least 49 Palestinians were killed in three days of intense Isr…