Yoav Gallant faces the press
Following the resumption of hostilities, Israel’s Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant addressed Israel’s media.
He told them:
Yoav Gallant
“Over a week ago, we agreed on a framework between Hamas and Israel, and things were clear. All the women and children held by Hamas should have returned to their homes and families. After releasing over 80 hostages – a very important achievement in itself – Hamas violated the agreed framework. Hamas refuses to release 17 women and children held hostage in Gaza – that is 15 women and two children. As a result of Hamas’ decision not to fulfil that which was agreed upon, and in accordance with the War Cabinet’s decision, yesterday morning I instructed the IDF to resume fire.
Over the past day, I saw the results [of our operations] up close. Yesterday, I saw them from within the cockpit of an IAF attack helicopter. Today, I saw them in the field with the combat soldiers deployed to the southern border. The results are very impressive. The IDF has returned to fighting at full force – we are carrying on exactly where we left off. We are keeping our eyes on the goals of this war: defeating Hamas, destroying its governing and military capabilities – not allowing Hamas to continue its rule over Gaza, and returning the hostages to their homes. As long as Hamas refuses to comply with what has been established, we will continue to operate, we will continue to take [military] action until we achieve the goals we have set for ourselves.
I follow closely both the action of the IDF and its effect on the behaviour of the terrorist organization [Hamas]. About a month ago when we were about to maneuver, there were many in Hamas who thought they would succeed in stopping us. They thought that they would succeed in sowing division within Israeli society – that some would hold the position that we must hold back and do nothing other than negotiating [with Hamas], while others would say ‘leave the hostages, go and defeat Hamas.’ We found a solution for this issue.
And we know today, everyone knows – both in Hamas and in Israel, that as you expand the military operation, you achieve two goals. First, you strike the Hamas organization – eliminating more terrorists, more commanders, more terror infrastructure, tunnels, command and control rooms and headquarters. Through our military action, we also create the conditions that push [Hamas] to pay a heavy price, and that is in the release of hostages. It is our military action that has led to the release of 110 hostages so far.
Some [of the hostages who were released] are Israeli citizens, and some are foreign citizens. But there is something else that Hamas had thought. Hamas thought that its forces would be able to stop the IDF. Hamas thought that the Iranians and Hezbollah would come to their aid and deter us. Today, every commander in the Gaza Strip understands what happened to the battalions in northern Gaza. Every [Hamas] commander in Khan Yunis or in Rafah knows very well what took place in Shati, Beit Lahia, Beit Hanun, Al Farkun, Zeitun, where [Hamas] battalions were eliminated by the Air Force, by troops on land and in the sea. They understand what their future holds.
Hamas will not determine what happens – only the IDF will. Hamas’ morale is low. Eight weeks have passed since the start of the war – including three weeks of strikes, four weeks of maneuvering and one week during which hostages returned home.
The [military] achievements so far are great – thousands of terrorists have been eliminated, we have struck dozens of headquarters, hundreds of terabytes of information have been transferred to us, hundreds of terrorists have been apprehended and are being interrogated in Israel, and much more… All this was achieved as a result of the IDF’s determination and successful operations.
We have 110 civilians [hostages who were released] and an additional three bodies that were returned via IDF operations. The release of 110 live hostages has not been achieved by any other military anywhere in the world against any other terrorist organization – not against Al Qaeda, not against ISIS, not against Boko Haram – we achieved this against Hamas as a result of the IDF’s power and precision, together with the ISA and other security organizations.
Four weeks since the start of the ground maneuver, it has become clear to us that military pressure leads to the completion of both our goals – the military achievements and the return of hostages to the State of Israel – to their homes and families. I repeat- Hamas blatantly violated the framework that was reached together with the United States, Egypt and Qatar. We will return all the hostages – until the very last one. The IDF, the defence establishment, and I am personally committed to this task.
As I conclude, I would like to say a few words about those who are responsible for the results we have seen [so far] – the IDF, ISA, Mossad, Israel Police and all the security agencies. I meet them on a daily basis, I see both the commanders and soldiers, senior and junior officials, and my message to the citizens of Israel is: you have someone to be proud of, you have someone to trust. The IDF and all the security agencies are the defensive shields that ensure our lives in the State of Israel.”
