From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
IDF chief says Israel expanding ops in Gaza, warns war to last ‘many more months’
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the military is expanding operations in southern and central Gaza as it is close to dismantling all of Hamas’s battalions in the northern part of the Strip, but warns that the war will last “many more months.”
“I just left the Gaza Strip, I met the troops in the north of the Strip. I was impressed by the way the forces are fighting, working, and achieving the goals we set for them. The IDF is close to completing the dismantling of the Hamas battalions in the northern Gaza Strip,” says Halevi in a press conference in southern Israel.
“We eliminated many terrorists and commanders, some of them surrendered to our forces and we took hundreds of prisoners. We destroyed many underground infrastructures and weapons,” he continues.
But Halevi warns that in “this dense urban area, where terrorists are dressed as civilians, it cannot be said that we killed all of them.”
“We will likely still meet [Hamas] fighters in this area, and we will continue to attack them and pursue them in a variety of ways,” he says of the fighting in northern Gaza, which is expected to shift into a lower gear once the last Hamas battalion is dismantled.
“Now, we are concentrating our efforts in the south of the Gaza Strip, Khan Younis, the central camps, and beyond. And we will continue to both preserve and deepen the achievement in the north of the Gaza Strip,” Halevi says.
He says the IDF “will not allow a return to the security reality before October 7, and we will not allow such an event to be repeated.”
“The Air Force continues to strike non-stop. A building falls when it is an enemy target, a building falls when it poses a danger to our forces,” Halevi says.
“The IDF is focused and precise in its operations. Wherever our forces attack, they are accompanied by heavy fire from the air, sea and land. In every operation in which our forces require firepower, they receive the required cover at its best,” he says, amid concerns that ground forces are not being given enough air support.
Halevi says the ground forces are demolishing Hamas infrastructure, which “cannot be done from the air,” and that such operations lead to clashes with terror operatives.
“We are making professional, rational and calculated use of the resources at our disposal and prepared for the continuation of the fighting in all arenas,” Halevi says.
“This war has necessary and not easy goals to achieve, it takes place in complex territory. That’s why the war will continue for many more months, and we will work with different methods, so that the achievement will be maintained for a long time,” he says, adding that the IDF is constantly learning and adapting its fighting methods to each area of the Gaza Strip it operates in.
“There are no magic solutions, no shortcuts in the thorough dismantling of a terror organization, but stubborn and determined fighting. And we are very, very determined,” Halevi says.
He says the IDF will reach the Hamas leadership, “whether it takes a week or whether it takes months.”
“We are increasing the military pressure, in different ways, powerfully and in a deceptive way. This pressure enables the realization of the goals of the war, the dismantling of Hamas, and the return of the hostages,” Halevi continues.
“Our commitment to the return of the hostages remains the same, we will do everything to return the hostages home. In this war, we are fighting a just war like no other… and it has a heavy and painful price. Some of our best sons and daughters fell in the battle for the security of the country. We will guarantee that their fall was not in vain,” he says.
Halevi also vows that the military will answer the “many difficult questions” that arose following the October 7 onslaught.
“We are obligated to answer for all of them, and we will provide answers after a thorough investigation. We will not skip any question or any lesson. We will thoroughly investigate at the first possible opportunity, and we will publish the findings to the public with transparency,” he says.
Speaking on criticism of decisions made by commanders in Gaza and during fighting in southern Israel on October 7, Halevi says “I want to say a few things as someone who served most of his years as a combat commander: The battlefield presents us with complex situations, and this time even more complex. In these situations, we have to make difficult decisions, and we are responsible for them, both in successes and in failures. This is the way we chose, the wearers of the uniform, to bear the responsibility, and dedicate our lives to the security of the country.”
“Many commanders made very difficult decisions on October 7, and I appreciate all of them first of all for standing up to this challenge and risking their lives. and their endless willingness. The commanders’ decisions, as well as my own decisions, will be investigated and studied thoroughly, when the operational situation allows it,” Halevi says.
“Each of these commanders is now risking their lives in combat. It is not appropriate to attack them and judge them, when the cannons are still firing and they are leading forces inside the Strip in combat. We will continue to fight and continue to learn,” he adds.
