The Chief Of The General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, Held A Situational Assessment In Gaza.

Attached are the full remarks of the Chief of the General Staff:

"I don't think that in the last 40-50 years there has been a military that has fought in an area so densely-populated, both above and below ground, with such an enemy prepared for defense, with so many problems in each square kilometer, and with such absolute success in military terms. And this is a very, very significant achievement, very, very significant. You can be very proud of this, you're doing it with your hands, with your feet.

Today is Day 122, but we are advancing, we are not standing still. We could say to ourselves, 'What are you doing in the same place? You were here, why are you here again?' No. We came to the same place, but it's a completely different story. We are working with different intelligence, different objectives, different achievements, we are killing more enemy forces. And I see day by day the numbers, the achievements, the underground, the computers.

When we talked about dismantling Hamas, we didn't think it would be in a week, we didn't think it would be in a month - it's peeling off layers. And what we are doing now in this repetition is going back, sometimes for the second time, sometimes for a third time, to the same space, and cementing our achievements. The principle of raids, quality focused efforts, the correct combat management, surprise and stratagem - will cement the achievement. More terrorists killed, more commanders killed, more infrastructure destroyed, and I hope this pressure also brings us to achieving another important goal of bringing back the hostages, I hope all of them, we are making a big effort on this. It won't happen without military pressure, so we are fighting all across the Strip, in an organized operation, with surprise raids, and we will continue to do it in a very, very high-quality way."