IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir toured southern Gaza City on Wednesday and called on residents to rise up against Hamas.
“We are operating with large forces, striking with strength and precision,” Zamir said. “Rebel and separate yourselves from Hamas. It is responsible for your suffering.”
Zamir toured the area together with Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, manpower directorate head Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, 36th Division commander Brig. Gen. Moran Omer and other senior officers. He told commanders that the IDF is focusing its offensive on Gaza City “to create conditions for the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas.”
“Most of Gaza’s population has already left,” Zamir said, adding that the army was moving civilians southward “for their protection.”
He praised the troops, saying: “You are the defensive line of the State of Israel. We will continue to protect our communities, act as a buffer between the enemy and Israel’s citizens, and fight a just and moral war. Your achievements are significant, and righteousness is with us.”
Zamir also honored Maj. Shahar Bozaglo, killed earlier this week when an RPG struck his tank in southern Gaza. “Since October 7, he fought bravely and with devotion for the security of the residents of the south and the State of Israel as a whole,” Zamir said.
Addressing international criticism, Zamir referred to growing recognition of a Palestinian state: “There are nations living under a false perception, applying pressure on us instead of on Hamas, after a horrific massacre of our people.”
He concluded: “This is a war between freedom and oppression. The IDF and its soldiers are the defensive line of Israel’s citizens and the Jewish people, but also of humanity and the free world, against terror, oppression and cruelty.”