Israel Defense Forces Chief Vows to Immediately Attack Gaza Once Ceasefire Is Over

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi vowed to immediately attack Gaza again once the ceasefire period is over. 

​​Hamas released 13 Israeli hostages Friday as part of a four-day ceasefire deal amid Israel’s ongoing war with the terror group. The terror group is expected to release 50 Israeli women and children held hostage in exchange for the temporary pause in hostilities and the release of Palestinian prisoners. 

Halevi recently told soldiers that the IDF will use the war pause to “study, to better prepare our abilities and also to rest a little,” according to the Times of Israel.

“And we will return immediately at the end of the ceasefire to attacking Gaza, to maneuver in Gaza. We will do it to dismantle Hamas and also to create great pressure to return as quickly as possible and as many hostages as possible, down to the last one of them,” he said.

The Israeli military chief continued: “We have an obligation to fight and also to risk our lives so that [Israeli citizens] can return to live in safety, and we have hostages that we will do everything to bring them home.”

​​Officials in Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S. helped broker the hostage deal, which also requires Israel to release 150 Palestinian women and teens held in Israeli prisons. 

Halevi said that the IDF was behind the ceasefire deal as it pressured Hamas to release hostages. 

“We do not intend, do not want, and are not ready to stop this effort before we return all the hostages… it is our moral duty to bring them back,” he said.

Israel and Hamas reached the ceasefire agreement for the first time since October 7 when the militant group launched attacks, killing 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping some 200 others. 

In retaliatory responses, Israel launched air and ground offensives across the Gaza Strip, killing over 13,000 Palestinian civilians, including more than 4,500 children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.