Government to Eyal Zamir: Clean house in the General Staff

The government is strongly hinting that incoming IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir clean house in the General Staff, removing senior officers responsible for the failure to stop October 7 or who are insufficiently offensive-minded, according to a Kann report tonight (Sunday).

The report comes following increasing frustration on the right at what is seen as an insufficiently aggressive approach by the IDF in Gaza and Lebanon under outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and a belief that now that the ceasefire is in place, the time has come to remove officers responsible for failing to stop Hamas then and who are failing to defeat Hamas now.

Zamir visited Southern Command today as part of his preparation to enter the IDF's top spot. There, he reviewed plans drawn up for renewed fighting in the Gaza Strip if the hostage deal cannot be put back on track. Zamir critiqued many of the plans as being insufficiently offensive-minded, arguing that they must be rewritten and be based on values such as "victory" and "eliminating Hamas."

According to Kann, the IDF Spokesperson said that Zamir has not yet made any personnel decisions regarding the General Staff, despite clear pressure from the government to do so.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained his decision to end humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip as follows: "There will be no free meals. If Hamas thinks that it will be possible to continue the ceasefire, or to enjoy the conditions of phase one, without us receiving hostages - they are greatly mistaken."

Getting to the matter of humanitarian aid specifically, Netanyahu said that "Hamas is currently taking control of all supplies and goods sent to the Gaza Strip. They are abusing the Gazan population who try to receive the aid, shooting at them, and turning humanitarian aid into a terror budget directed against us. We will not agree to this under any circumstances."