The campaign against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza remains the “central arena” of the seven-front war against the Jewish state, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on Wednesday.
“This week we operated in Beirut, struck in Dahiyeh, the Israeli Navy struck in Yemen, and in other locations as well—but Gaza remains the central arena,” Zamir told soldiers during a tour of the northern Strip.
“The threat of Hamas will not be allowed to remain beyond the [border] fence,” warned Zamir. “We must continue operating toward the decisive defeat of Hamas, to dismantle its terror infrastructure and eliminate its commanders. We are striking to defend ourselves.”
According to Zamir, “the campaign is not over, and we are required to keep acting to bring back all of our hostages and to defeat the enemy.”
“Over the past week, we recovered the bodies of three slain captives,” continued the IDF chief of staff. “The return of all the abductees is a moral imperative and duty we must uphold, whether that’s through operational means or creating suitable conditions for negotiations.”
Referring to the debate about the conscription of the ultra-Orthodox, he vowed to work to “shorten the campaign and transition to new combat configurations that will allow us to achieve our objectives while reducing the burden placed on the fighters.”
IDF troops are continuing “their operational activity against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip,” acting upon military and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) intelligence, the IDF announced earlier on Wednesday.
During operations in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza, an IDF officer and a soldier were moderately wounded by terrorist RPG fire, according to the army. They were evacuated for medical treatment.
On Tuesday, IDF troops eliminated several terror operatives who were “loading military equipment and weapons into a military structure that was used for terrorist purposes,” according to a separate IDF statement. The troops were also said to have destroyed an arms manufacturing site.
“In addition, IDF troops dismantled Hamas military structures, and after the strike, secondary explosions were identified, indicating the presence of weapons in the structures,” the military said.
Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force struck dozens of terrorist targets across the Strip. The targets attacked included gunmen, terror structures, sniper and observation posts, underground tunnels and additional “terrorist infrastructure sites,” according to the IDF.
“Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” launched on May 16, is a wide-scale campaign targeting remaining Hamas and Islamic Jihad strongholds.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the campaign is aimed at establishing lasting security control throughout all of Gaza.
