From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Smotrich, Ben Gvir call for IDF not to take foot off the gas after Sinwar’s killing
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir call on the IDF to increase military pressure on the Gaza Strip in the wake of the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
“Now the IDF must make sure that there is no resident of Gaza who does not know that Sinwar is dead. It must increase intense military pressure in the Strip, and at the same time offer safe passage and financial reward to those who return our hostages to and agree to lay down their arms and leave the Strip,” Smotrich tweets.
“After decades, we are proving that there is a military solution to terrorism,” the far-right minister declares.
Ben Gvir likewise calls for Israel to “continue with all our strength until absolute victory.”
New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar, a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, tweets that it was “good that the government led by Netanyahu did not bow under the heavy political pressures and did not listen to the ‘advice’ of all the ‘television studio experts’ and insisted on completing the job in Rafah.”
