IDF spokesman says combined goal of intensified Gaza op is to free hostages, defeat Hamas

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, in a press statement from the border with the Gaza Strip, says despite the military’s recent achievements and pressure on Hamas, the terror group remains “unwilling” to agree to a hostage deal.

“We have an organized plan. We are moving ahead to a new and intensified phase, Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” he says.

“The goal of the operation is the return of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas’s rule. These two goals are combined with each other,” Defrin says.

He says the offensive “will include a wide-scale attack and the movement of the majority of the Strip’s population, this is to protect them in an area sterile of Hamas. And continued airstrikes, elimination of terrorists, and dismantling of infrastructure.”

Defrin says the IDF will implement the “Rafah model,” whereby all Hamas infrastructure is razed and the area is declared part of Israel’s buffer zone, in other parts of the Strip.