The war enters its 45th day.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari delivered a statement to the press this evening (Monday) where he addressed all the fronts in which Israel was at war.
He began by discussing events in the Gaza Strip: “IDF forces continue to fight and deepen the gains in Gaza. In the past few days, our forces have conducted a battle against the Zaytun fighters and destroyed many assets of the battalion, one of Hamas’ central battalions. We have the upper hand in all these battles. The forces destroyed assets containing rocket manufacturing laboratories, weapons, terrorist materials and intelligence, terror command posts, much weaponry, and intelligence materials. Most of them are located near schools, mosques, and humanitarian institutions.”
“This is the modus operandi of Hamas which uses the population as a human shield,” Hagari said. “In addition, soldiers from the 188th Brigade located a lab for producing drones in a mosque. The soldiers found a shaft and descending the stairs found a workshop for creating rockets, inside the mosque. They use the symbols of Islam to create terror. We thus expose the methods Hamas uses to the world.”
“Before any entry of forces into combat, the Air Force conducts a broad series of strikes meant to remove threats to the ground forces and create good conditions for ground activity. It takes time and it’s good that it does.”
Hagari: We Can Reduce Reserves to Enable Economic Stability
Hagari addressed the issue of the reservists, saying that “this war has stages. We are conducting an ongoing situational assessment every day and adapting the scope of our reservists in the IDF’s rear arrays. We estimate that we can reduce and return home for the economy to run. We are doing this. We are creating the conditions allowing the fighting to go on for a long time.”
The IDF Spokesperson also addressed the northern front: “The IDF struck Hezbollah terror infrastructures and eliminated terrorist squads in Lebanese territory with fighter planes, helicopters, and tanks. This was a very broad strike where we eliminated Hezbollah terrorists who also fired rockets on us and also a squad which tried to fire tanks in our direction. We responded aggressively, the Hezbollah launches hit the outposts and this is as a result of the launching of three aircraft which struck the outpost. There are no casualties.”
“So far, messages have been sent to the families of 388 IDF soldiers who fell in battle. Today, International Children’s Day is being commemorated all over the world. In these moments, 40 children are being held in Gaza. They were taken wildly and brutally from their beds by Hamas. They are held far from their homes throughout Gaza, some of them without their parents and without basic rights. The Hamas leadership and its leader Yahya Sinwar are responsible. He bears responsibility for it. We bear the moral duty to bring them home.”