Israel at war. IDF Spokesperson, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, issued a statement this evening (Sunday) addressing all the fronts where Israel is engaged in warfare since the terrible massacre on October 7th.
At the beginning of his remarks, General Hagari said, "I want to address the 30 families who have lost their loved ones. In the IDF, we remember well what we are fighting for and why. We embrace all the families who have lost their loved ones. I want to address the families of the captured and missing people. Hamas is holding the captives in a cruel and unscrupulous manner. We do not forget; we make efforts around the clock, gather every piece of information and every operational opportunity."
Since the beginning of the ground attack, over 2500 targets have been attacked
Afterward, General Hagari addressed the situation in the Gaza Strip, stating, "IDF forces today encircled the city of Gaza; they reached the sea, to the southern part. There is northern Gaza and southern Gaza. We are still allowing evacuation via the coordination mechanism for the residents of northern Gaza and the city of Gaza to head south. We will continue to operate forcefully and reinforce our ground operations in the northern Gaza Strip and the city of Gaza."
"Only since the beginning of the ground activity," says General Hagari, "more than 2,500 targets have been attacked. Even at this moment, a very wide-scale attack is underway, targeting underground and overground infrastructure. Elimination of terrorists and the pursuit of senior commanders are being carried out forcefully. Tonight, a significant attack is taking place.
"We presented additional damning evidence to the international media regarding Hamas' cynical use of humanitarian infrastructure, with an emphasis on hospitals. This use is aimed at enabling Hamas to build terrorist infrastructure under the cover of humanitarian organizations and hospitals. We will continue to expose to the world which murderous organization we are fighting against when it uses the civilian population as human shields, and we will reach every terrorist and eliminate him."
We will respond to any attack from the north, every squad will be killed
Regarding events in the northern sector of Israel, Hagari also addressed the situation and mentioned, "In the north, there were several incidents today. The IDF targeted Hezbollah's assets in Lebanon in response to tank fire that killed an Israeli civilian. The IDF conducted several additional strikes on terrorist infrastructure, cells, and vehicles used to transport terrorist cells. The Air Defense Corps also intercepted flights of drones attempted by Hezbollah to infiltrate our airspace, and they were intercepted over Lebanese territory."
"The IDF Chief of Staff visited the Northern Command, conducted a situation assessment, and approved plans for the continuation of IDF operations along the border. The IDF is currently highly prepared to respond significantly to any attack against the State of Israel. Every terrorist cell will be destroyed, and every firing attempt will be met with a response."
Regarding IDF casualties, the spokesperson mentioned that notifications have been made to the families of 347 fallen soldiers. Regarding the issue of missing soldiers, he stated that "there is a significant effort in locating the missing people, both within the territory of the State of Israel and beyond. The details will be disclosed, and the numbers may change as information becomes available. Furthermore, the spokesperson assured that fuel will not enter the Gaza Strip."