Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir convened top military leaders for a multi-arena situational assessment on Monday, the first in approximately two years, the IDF announced on Tuesday.
Zamir was said to have told the General Staff Forum, which includes some 30 of the IDF’s most senior commanders, that it must prepare “for a continued wide-scale and comprehensive campaign, while managing a complex and challenging reality that requires multi-arena operations.”
“We are operating across multiple arenas,” he stated. “We will continue to weaken and prevent Syria and Hezbollah from achieving strategic capabilities and maintain our freedom of action. We are operating in Judea and Samaria and consistently combatting terrorism. Iran and its axis remain in our sights—the campaign against Iran is not over.”
As part of the situational assessment, the top commanders were shown an “intelligence, operational and strategic picture across all arenas,” the military stated, “from the nearby borders to far away regions of the Middle East, including a systemic outlook from Tehran to Gaza.”
According to Zamir, the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip is “one of the most complex the IDF has ever known. We have achieved significant accomplishments—Southern Command continues to lead with regular and reserve brigades operating every day in both offense and defense.”
Next year “will be a year of readiness, consolidation of achievements, return to competence and fundamentals and utilizing operational opportunities,” the Israeli military’s top commander declared.
On Sunday, Zamir conducted a field tour in Gaza, accompanied by Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, head of the IDF Southern Command, and top officers.
“You are operating with courage in a war that is as just as can be,” Zamir told troops in Shejaiya in the northern Strip. “Our objectives, and your achievements, will lead to a lasting security shift for years to come.”
The chief of staff also emphasized that the progress made as part of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” continues to drive Hamas terrorists closer to defeat and may open the door to a potential hostage deal.
The IDF submitted new operational plans to the country’s political echelon, aimed at amplifying its achievements and deepening its strategic gains in the coastal enclave, Zamir said during the tour.
Israel’s focus returned to the Gaza Strip after Jerusalem, together with the United States military, dealt a decisive blow to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs during the war with the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s plans to destroy Israel were “not merely theoretical ideas but an existential threat to our lives,” Zamir said after the truce with Tehran.
“In the months leading up to the war, Iran advanced a plan based on massive standoff fire alongside a multi-front ground invasion. All of these plans shared one common goal: to destroy the State of Israel,” Israel’s chief of staff said in his taped post-ceasefire remarks.
“They were not merely theoretical ideas but an existential threat to our lives in this country,” continued the military leader. “We are fighting for our survival with force, and we are taking the fire to enemy territory.”
The Islamic Republic has vowed to rebuild its nuclear capabilities and threatened last week that it was “ready” to deal “even bigger blows” to the United States and its regional allies, including the Jewish state.
