IDF chief threatens Hamas leaders abroad: ‘We will reach them too’

Following Israel’s assassination of top Houthi officials and Hamas’s military spokesman yesterday, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir says the military will continue to target threats “across all arenas,” speaking at a situational assessment in the Northern Command.

“The IDF is acting offensively, with initiative and operational superiority across all arenas and at all times,” Zamir says during the assessment, which reviewed intelligence and discussed operational plans for the continuation of the Gaza campaign, according to an IDF statement.

The strike on Hamas spokesman Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout, more commonly known as Abu Obeida, “joins a series of significant IDF strikes in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and other arenas,” Zamir continues, saying this “is not the end.”

“The bulk of Hamas’s ruling leadership that remains is abroad, and we will reach them too,” he warns.

Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024.

Turning to address the IDF’s recent recovery of slain hostages Idan Shtivi and Ilan Weiss, Zamir says: “We continue our efforts and operations to return all the hostages, both living and the fallen.”

Zamir thanks reservists who will report for duty ahead of the security cabinet-approved plan “to deepen the fighting against Hamas” by conquering Gaza City in October, saying, “The mission is not yet complete.”

He also promises security for citizens in the north, noting that some of the younger residents will return to school “for the first time since the start of the war” tomorrow, and that the Northern Command “continues to strike and destroy threats in their early stages.”