IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi toured Jabaliya in northern Gaza along with the head of Southern Command and the commander of the 98th Brigade for a security assessment on Tuesday. He met with commanders who participated in the recent operation to recover the bodies of hostages held there.
"We are in a war that we said from the beginning would be protracted. They have entrenched themselves here for years in defense, and it won't be dismantled in a week or even a month," Halevi said.
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IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi (right) with Brigadier General Dan Goldfuss
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
"The mission, as the commanding officer of the Southern Command said, is to kill as many commanders and terrorists as possible and to destroy the infrastructure. We very much want this pressure to help us bring back hostages alive. We are ready to undertake dangerous and complicated operations to bring the bodies of our hostages back for burial in Israel.
"This has great value, and I tell you to talk to the soldiers about these things. We are dismantling the military wing of Hamas. We want to bring our hostages home alive, and we want to bring those who, unfortunately, are no longer alive back for burial in Israel," he added.
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IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi with senior IDF commanders in Jabaliya
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
"These are very, very important missions. The message is that even if there was a place we didn't reach last time, and now we are reaching it, no place, no matter how many explosives they put in the walls and how many shafts they booby-trapped, no place will withstand an offensive by an IDF combat team," he concluded.
First published: 00:20, 05.22.24