The 20th day of the war: IDF spokesman Brigadier General Daniel Hagari made a statement to the media this evening (Thursday) in which he summarized the events of today in the war throughout Israel.
IDF Spokesperson: "We continue with the comprehensive operations. The IDF eliminated a deputy head of the Hamas intelligence division, an individual who was personally involved closely with Yahya Sinwar in the massacre. We are continuing to eliminate and pursue all those involved in the murderous attack. The forces involved in the operation will continue in the coming days. Hamas still has rockets; there will be launches also in central Israel. As of this morning, messages have been delivered to the families of 224 kidnapped individuals.
"We continue to invest maximum efforts into the top priority of bringing the hostages home. Fuel is a central issue, and the Hamas forces, after 20 days of more challenging operations, are feeling the blow from the IDF and will continue to feel it. Hamas is stealing fuel from UNRWA; we will continue to monitor Hamas in terms of fuel. The instructions are to not let fuel in."
"With the United States, we are in constant contact. I want to update that the Chief of Staff almost on a daily basis is talking with the commander of the U.S. Central Command. Professional personnel from the USA have arrived here, and we are listening, and it's good to learn. However, our war is close to our borders and not thousands of miles away from Israel. Our familiarity with Gaza is intimate, and ultimately, we need to achieve the war's objectives."
IDF spokesman: "We are not harming UNRWA"
In response to Srugim's question about why the fuel tankers in southern Gaza, as presented by the IDF spokesperson, were not destroyed, the answer was, "These tankers are fuel tankers that hold fuel for UNRWA facilities. We are monitoring them and their use, and we keep a close eye on this. However, we are not operating against UNRWA; on the contrary, we are working with UNRWA, and we do not want to harm UNRWA."
"We are not targeting UNRWA; we are making efforts with the international community in the area we defined, south of the Gaza River. Conditions will be met that will allow citizens to receive conditions, water, food, and medicine. We are inspecting trucks entering from Egypt. It's a joint effort of Egypt and the United States under our supervision, from the air and at crossings. That's why we're also calling on the civilian population to move there. It's an open area, and we are facilitating conditions there."