The 59th day of the war in Gaza. IDF spokesman Brigadier General Daniel Hagari gave a statement to the media this evening (Monday) in which he referred to all the arenas in which Israel is at war.
During his remarks, Hagari said that "the IDF forces in the Gaza Strip continue their ground operations. We have launched significant, precise and well-founded attacks in the entire Gaza Strip. Today we carried out several operational closures that resulted in the elimination of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure. The forces operate in the field, the terrorists emerge from the tunnels and the Air Force attacks, and so on.
"The forces move from building to building, tunnel to tunnel and eliminate many terrorists," he said. "But these are battles that also involve face-to-face combat. Our forces are determined to kill the terrorists, to win every battle, and to do so wherever necessary. The Chief of Staff conducted an assessment of the situation inside the Gaza Strip, and heard the words from the fighters on the ground. He gave highlights to decide how to give the best answer."
Hagari emphasized and called on the public on the home front to be alert and listen to the instructions. "We may encounter this in the center and in the north as well." In addition, he said that "today the president of the Red Cross arrived in Gaza, after the organization helped evacuate the abductees during the ceasefire. We continue to demand that international organizations in the world ensure the safety of our abductees and provide them with the necessary medical assistance. We have a moral duty to return them all home."
The regular troop deployment did not change on the eve of the massacre; We will investigate the question of reserve forces
To the reporters' question about the movement of forces to Judea and Samaria on the evening of October 7, Hagari said that "the issue was not hidden and no details are hidden from the public. Every detail of the issue of what happened on October 7 from an operational point of view - will be discussed in an in-depth investigation that we will do. The deployment of the forces that carry out regular operational employment has not changed, certainly not in the months before October 7. We will investigate the question of the backup forces, this is a military decision."
"I confirm that backup forces are deployed every weekend, we determine where they are placed in relation to the threats. We will investigate in relation to where we should have put them. We will investigate in depth and give full answers. We will find the right stage within the war where we can start collecting the data and investigate the first stages. We will not postpone everything until the end of the war, but we will find the right time to start with it."
Regarding the reports regarding a significant assassination in Khan Yunis, he said that "there is no verified information about a senior official who was eliminated. We update with great responsibility. When a senior terrorist is killed, I promise we will come and update. We need to kill them, and after we verify that they have been killed, we will update the public."
