IDF chief says army will strive to force Hamas to appoint a new leader yet again

Speaking to Israeli Air Force personnel at Tel Nof airbase, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says Israel is on high alert and will be able to carry out a quick response to any attack.

“We will be able to launch a very quick attack anywhere in Lebanon, anywhere in Gaza, anywhere in the Middle East, above ground and below ground,” Halevi says. “We will send a very clear message to our enemies, those who attack us, those who in every speech talk about how they seek to destroy the State of Israel. We will strike them, and we will continue to grow stronger.”

On Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, who was promoted to leader of the terror group’s politburo after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Halevi says his title change won’t stop Israel from hunting him down.

“Yahya Sinwar yesterday received a new title, he is the head of the political bureau of Hamas. This title, a political one, will not absolve him of the fact that he is a murderer who was involved in the entire planning and execution of what happened on October 7, and therefore the change in his title not only won’t prevent us from seeking him out — it spurs us on. We will make an effort to find him, strike him, and [cause Hamas to] replace the head of the political bureau once more,” he says.