IDF chief in message to troops: ‘Unlike our enemy, we maintain our humanity’

In a missive to troops, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the army is “not on a killing spree,” acting out of revenge nor carrying out genocide in the Gaza Strip, as the war against Hamas is well into its fifth month.

“We have been fighting for four months, and we still have a long way to go,” Halevi writes.

He says the fighting is “a long and just war. Every move is very important, every local achievement is part of achieving the goals of the war. Do it with determination and professionalism.”

“We act like human beings and, unlike our enemy, maintain our humanity. We must be careful not to use force where it is not required, to distinguish between a terrorist and those who are not, not to take anything that is not ours — a souvenir or weapons — and not to film revenge videos,” Halevi says.

“We are not on a killing spree, revenge, or genocide. We have come to win and defeat a cruel enemy, who deserves a bitter loss,” he says.

On the IDF’s probes of its failures in the lead-up to Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, Halevi says, “We will carry out the investigations with five leading values: truth, relevance, transparency, responsibility, and togetherness.”