Raids will begin immediately in the Gaza Strip as soon as the ceasefire with Hamas expires, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herchi Halevi said today

Halevi, speaking to soldiers, says ceasefire and hostage deal would not have happened without the IDF’s pressure on Hamas.

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

Halevi says the IDF will use the pause in fighting “to study, to better prepare our capabilities and also to rest a bit.”

“And we’ll be back immediately at the end of the cease-fire in the attack on Gaza, for maneuvers in Gaza. We will do it to dismantle Hamas and also to create a lot of pressure to return as quickly as possible and as many hostages as possible, every last one of them,” he says.

“We have an obligation to fight and also risk our lives so that Israeli citizens can return to live in safety, and we have hostages that we will do anything to bring them home,” Halevi added.