Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces that all “restraints” had been removed for an offensive into Gaza.
Gallant made the remarks while addressing IDF soldiers at the Gaza border after touring the kibbutz Be’eri, which had been the site of the massacre of over 100 residents by Hamas militants. After condemning the violence and praising the fighting abilities of the troops, Gallant turned his attention to the coming ground offensive into Gaza itself. He announced that all “restraints” had been lifted.
FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC CRISES UPEND BIDEN 2020 CAMPAIGN PROMISE OF RETURN TO STABILITY
“You fought courageously, and you acted in the spirit of the IDF exactly as it should. You resisted valiantly on the front lines. You hit many terrorists and saved lives. You saw with your own eyes against what we are fighting, against human animals, the Islamic State of Gaza,” Gallant said.
“I have released all the restraints, we have [regained] control of the area, and we are moving to a full offense,” he told the assembled troops. “You will have the ability to change the reality here. You have seen the prices [being paid], and you will get to see the change. Hamas wanted a change in Gaza. It will change 180 degrees from what it thought.”
“They will regret this moment. Gaza will never return to what it was,” he proclaimed. “Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors, we will eliminate him with all our might and without compromise.”
Gallant’s ambitious declaration was echoed by other Israeli officials.
“The objective is for this war to end very differently from all of the previous rounds. There has to be a clear victory,” Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel, said about the previous four rounds of fighting between Israel and Gaza from 2008 to 2021. “Whatever has to be done to fundamentally change the situation will have to be done.”
Israel has already begun heavy bombing of Gaza in preparation for the ground offensive. Overnight, Israeli jets hit over 200 targets in Gaza City using dozens of planes, the Israeli Air Force said.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Some Israeli media, cited by the Times of Israel, reported that Israeli jets hit the home of Hamas commander Mohammad Deif’s father, killing his brother, son, and the brother’s granddaughter.
So far, the war has claimed the lives of 1,900 people on both sides, according to the Associated Press.
