IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi Holds Security Briefing (Photo IDF)
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi came out and said that making a deal with Hamas that would see the release of Israeli hostages held by the terrorist organization in Gaza is a “moral imperative.” General Gantz’s comments, made at a press conference at the Palmachim Airbase in central Israel on Sunday, could be seen as a rejection of the current policy held by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
General Halevi also defended the IDF’s engaging in “targeted assassinations” of Hamas leaders saying they are “important for the systematic dismantling of Hamas and the creation of conditions for an agreement [for the release of the hostages].”
The comments came after the IDF said that it killed Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday that also sought to kill the head of Hamas’s military wing Muhammad Deif.
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“It is still too early to conclude the results of the strike, which Hamas is trying to hide,” said Halevi. “We are determined to continue and pursue senior Hamas officials, those who planned and carried out the October 7th Massacre and dedicated their lives to the murder of innocent civilians. Mohammed Deif was afraid to die, so he hid in a way that even damaged his ability to command. He hid and sacrificed with him his people and civilians who were in the area, who were in danger, very few of whom were harmed. We found him, we will also find those next in line.”
“These eliminations are one part of the continuous and changing military pressure that the IDF is applying in all parts of the Gaza Strip,” he added. “Every day there are many Hamas casualties, ground forces that bravely attack, pilots that strike with high quality and precision, rescuing wounded from the ground, while employing various operational tactics. They are all supported by high-quality and up-to-date intelligence. This is important for the systematic dismantling of the Hamas terrorist organization; it is also very important for the creation of the conditions for an agreement to return the hostages.”
As for the Iron Swords War against Hamas in Gaza, General Halevi went on to say that the IDF is “not stopping, we are not stopping fighting. We are operating in the entire Gaza Strip with various methods of combat.”
