Halevi: IDF ready to resume fighting now, using truce to beef up readiness

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the military is ready “today” to potentially resume the fighting in the Gaza Strip, while also noting reports of intelligence failures that led to the October 7 onslaught being carried out.

“Today, the IDF is ready to continue fighting. We are using the days of truce as part of the agreement for learning, strengthening readiness, and approving the operational plans for the duration,” Halevi says in a press statement in northern Israel.

“We are preparing to continue fighting to dismantle Hamas. It will take time, these are complex goals, but they are more than justified,” Halevi adds, as a truce initially planned to last four days stretched to a fifth to allow more hostages to be released.

He says each hostage who returns is a “great relief,” but the IDF will not stop until all of them are released.

“The return of the hostages is a ray of light for all of us. It is also another testimony to the results of significant military pressure and high-quality ground maneuver. We created the conditions for the return of our citizens home. We will continue to do so,” Halevi says.

Speaking on recent reports that the military had intelligence of Hamas’s plans for the October 7 onslaught but senior officers largely ignored the warnings by their subordinates, Halevi says everything will be investigated after the war.

“In the last few days, there has been talk about the conduct of the IDF and the Military Intelligence Directorate prior to the events of October 7. In view of the dire results, the interest in this is understandable,” he says. “We will answer to this. We will listen carefully to each and every one of our subordinates and learn both what they thought and what they said.”

“The IDF, including the Military Intelligence Directorate, failed on October 7,” Halevi says. “There will be incisive and deep investigations, but now we must focus on fighting.”

“The commanders of the IDF and in particular the personnel of the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Southern Command are currently busy fighting,” Halevi says.”It would not be right for IDF commanders to be busy discussing responsibility with one or the other, I need them working together in the face of the many and complex tasks before them,” he says.

Halevi says all the commanders he has met since the beginning of the war showed a “heavy sense of responsibility.”

“Right now everything is dedicated to fighting. We will not stop until we restore security to the State of Israel,” he adds.