New IDF spokesman says Israel has entered ‘new stage’ of fighting Hamas

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin gives a press statement on April 3, 2025. (Screenshot/IDF)
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin gives a press statement on April 3, 2025. (Screenshot/IDF)

In his first press statement as IDF spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says the military has entered “a new stage” of the fighting against Hamas.

“The plan serves the goals of the war, returning the hostages and destroying Hamas’s military and governing capabilities,” he says.

Defrin says the IDF is maintaining “operational ambiguity, so we can surprise the enemy and bring about significant achievements. Our actions will speak.”

Since the resumption of fighting in Gaza on March 18, Defrin says the IDF has struck more than 600 targets in the Strip and killed over 250 terror operatives, including 12 senior officials in Hamas’s military wing and politburo.

“They are all terrorists and participated in the October 7 massacre,” he says, regarding the senior officials killed.

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