Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, conducted a situational assessment and field tour in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, during which he said that the military is “prepared to transition from a defensive posture to an offensive one,” and issued a warning to “terrorists in other arenas as well.”
Zamir instructed troops to continue operating to remove threats in the area, with an emphasis on dismantling underground terrorist infrastructure, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
“The IDF is deployed along a security border—the Yellow Line—overseeing the crossings to the Gaza Strip. … For any violation, we will respond and degrade [the terrorists’] capabilities. Recently, we eliminated numerous terrorists, including senior operatives from the terrorist organizations,” the military chief was quoted as saying.
Zamir vowed that the IDF would not give up on the objectives of the war, namely the disarmament of Hamas and the entire Gaza Strip.
“We are operating in accordance with the directive of the political echelon, while maintaining military plans for their defeat, and we stand ready to act defensively as required,” he stressed.
He added that Israel grants “no immunity for terrorism. … We will continue to remain focused and remove threats, with determination and a proactive approach.”
Zamir commended the commanders and soldiers for their accomplishments during the war, highlighting the dismantling of Hamas’s frontline battalions, imposing a military defeat on the terrorist group and recovering all the hostages.
In a separate statement on Friday, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin shared that he visited Rafah together with the chief of staff.
“We are operating in the Gaza Strip in an initiated and systematic manner, clearing the area of terror infrastructure and prepared to shift from defense to offense as required,” he stated in Hebrew on X.
Referring regional tensions with Iran, Defrin said that the IDF is “monitoring what is happening across the entire Middle East and [is] well prepared on all fronts. The Home Front Command guidelines remain unchanged. If there is a change, we will update accordingly.”
Meanwhile on Saturday, the IDF said that Israeli troops operating in northern Gaza earlier in the day killed a terrorist who crossed the Yellow Line in violation of the ceasefire terms.
The Palestinian “approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat,” the army added.
On Thursday, the Israeli Air Force struck a structure in northern Gaza after two terrorists entered it east of the Yellow Line, in the territory under IDF control.
“A hit was identified,” the military said, adding that IDF troops in the Southern Command “remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat.”
