A Statement by the Chief of the General Staff:

"Good evening,

60 days after the war began, our forces are now encircling the Khan Yunis area in the southern Gaza Strip.
Simultaneously, we continue to secure our accomplishments in the northern Gaza Strip.
Those who thought that the IDF would not know how to renew the fighting after the pause were mistaken, and Hamas is already feeling this.
Many Hamas operatives, including senior commanders, have been eliminated in recent days.
We have moved to the third phase of the ground operations.
We have secured many Hamas strongholds in the northern Gaza Strip, and now we are operating against its strongholds in the south.
We operate professionally; evacuating the population from combat zones; striking Hamas from above and below ground with combined strikes from the air, sea, and land.
We are deploying our ground forces into combat with powerful and precise support of fire and intelligence with a high level of accuracy. Our forces engage with many terrorists, target them effectively, in an impressive manner.
With our forces are ISA representatives, bringing the capabilities of the organization.
Our forces are joined by representatives from across the IDF - this partnership really builds strength on the battlefield.
Many ask about the destruction in Gaza. Hamas is the address. Sinwar is the address. Our forces find in nearly every building and house weapons and in many houses terrorists, and engage them in combat.
We understand that part of their method is the weapons left in the houses. A terrorist arrives in civilian clothing and conducts combat from there. Striking them requires significant use of fire, both to target the enemy but also to, of course, protect our forces. Therefore the forces operate powerfully, while making big efforts to mitigate as much as possible harm to civilians.
The military pressure we are applying and have applied in recent weeks is severely damaging Hamas, advancing the achievement of all the war’s objectives, with the top priority of returning all the hostages home.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet commanders in combat in the northern Gaza Strip. I hear them, I talk to them, they say very clearly - we are ready and willing to do everything to return the hostages, to do everything to strike Hamas and dismantle this organization. And I see their wisdom, they also know how to turn these two missions into complementary missions and not competing things, and we are truly doing everything to return the hostages.

I want to say a few words about the northern border, the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah chose to open fire at the end of the operational pause.
We identified this in advance and prepared for this.
We are resolutely acting against anyone preparing, or attempting to harm the citizens of Israel, IDF soldiers or those that pose a threat to our territory.
We are exacting a high price from Hezbollah, one that it is trying to hide, which they probably understand why.
We are focused on Gaza, but together with this we are continuing operational activities aimed at achieving a better security reality in the north of Israel.

In the Central Command, in Judea and Samaria, we are increasing the fight against terrorism, so far we must say with great success. In the last two months, over 1,200 Hamas operatives were apprehended in Judea and Samaria, many terrorists who carried out attacks, some very serious attacks in the past, some that were planning to carry out future attacks. They were arrested or killed, and we are very determined to continue this effort.

A few days ago, we experienced a tragic event in Jerusalem, in which the late Yuval Doron Castelman was killed.
It is important to me to say: we praise the heroism of a civilian who ran bravely into the fire, to stop other civilians from being killed. This is truly heroic. In the same breath, we emphasize the necessity to adhere to the necessary basic rules in such complex cases of gunfire in a civilian environment. Don't rush to shoot when the risk has diminished and we don't shoot at those who have their hands up. The specific case itself is of course still under investigation, but these insights are important that we all know now.

I visit the forces and see our resolute men and women fighting, fighting with the most senior of our commanders leading them.
In this war, we have lost some of our best commanders, who fought at the forefront of the forces. Both on October 7th and the days following.
This is the way of the IDF on the battlefield – commanders at the front.
The IDF - all its commanders and soldiers - is wholly engaged in achieving the war's goals. Among them is creating a different security response that will allow the residents to return to their homes – both in the south and in the north.
The IDF is already working on this today, planning forward.
We know that more forces will be required at the borders, more capabilities and an increased presence alongside the residents, in order to return safely - and that’s what we will do. We will be there with you, residents of northern and southern Israel.
We - the soldiers of the IDF - will do everything, everything, to repair what has been damaged. For the murdered, this repair is too late. For the life and continuity of life in the State of Israel, it is essential. We will not stop until we complete the mission."