Chief of the General Staff, LTG Eyal Zamir

The Chief of the General Staff, LTG Eyal Zamir, held today (Friday) an inspection of the areas in southern Gaza Strip together with the acting head of the Shin Bet, the Commander of the Southern Command, MG Yaniv Asur; the Commander of the Gaza Division, BG Barak Hiram; the Head of the Operations Branch, BG Israel Shomer; the Commander of the Officer Training School (261); the commanders of the reserve brigades (6th, 10th) and additional commanders.

During the inspection, the Chief of the General Staff spoke with troops and commanders of the reserve brigades and the Officer Training School and expressed his appreciation for their fighting spirit in the Gaza Strip during these times. He also referred to the painful incident in which a company commander and three soldiers from the Officer Training School fell last week.

From the remarks of the Chief of the General Staff: “The people of Israel observed their second Rosh Hashanah during this war; we are approaching Yom Kippur, and soon we will mark two years of the war. We are doing everything to return the hostages quickly and to defeat Hamas.

We are operating in all arenas, but the main concentration of the IDF and the Shin Bet is here, in the Gaza Strip. We are conducting a central operational effort in the northern Strip and in Gaza City. We have severely damaged Hamas’ capabilities, we have collapsed its governing capacity, and now the enemy is operating in guerrilla-like patterns.

You must persevere and eliminate the last pockets of resistance in Rafah.

Regarding the operational incident in which a company commander and three soldiers from the Officer Training School fell last week, lessons must be drawn from the painful event. It must be investigated and the necessary lessons extracted.

As in any case, the principle of force protection must be ensured. The security of our troops alongside activity is a principle of war. We must ensure that the soldiers receive the best possible training under current conditions and during operational missions. The personal example of the commanders at the Officer Training School is more important now than ever.

Soldiers of the reserve brigades who are here, you are the among the finest of the people of Israel. The fact that you report for duty time and again, perform the missions with high morale and motivation despite the difficulties that I know exist, deserves great appreciation.

We are determined to dismantle Hamas, we will seek to reduce the burden on the reserves, to rotate and refresh forces and to increase the pressure on the enemy.

We operate in close, high-quality cooperation with the Shin Bet. The integration between the bodies will continue and intensify and will continue to bring operational achievements that strengthen security.”

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