Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari December 20th, 20:15

Daily Briefing Transcript of IDF Spokesperson | December 20

Good evening. The IDF forces are intensifying the combat, extending our operations to Daraj Tuffah near Shejaiya. This completes our engagement in Jabalya, Beit Hanoun, Shejaiya, Daraj Tuffah- all of which are close to communities near the Gaza Strip including Nir Am, Kfar Aza, Meflasim. We aim to redefine the border’s security in our fight against terrorism in these areas. We will ensure a different security situation allowing residents to return when the time comes.

Today, we revealed that IDF forces are operating in the elite Hamas quarter in central Gaza City. This area is concentrated with Hamas' political and military leadership institutions. This space served as cover for hundreds of terrorist infrastructures embedded within civilian buildings. Using intelligence, our ground forces exposed an intricate network of underground infrastructures used by the Hamas leadership - Haniyeh, Deif, and Yahya Sinwar, who all utilized these infrastructures, both in routine and in emergencies, including at the start of the war on October 7th, when they conducted their operations from there.

From these infrastructures, they could move and deploy across the Strip, from the heart of Gaza City, the elite quarter, they could go to Shifa Hospital and exit in an ambulance “taxi” to travel south and return to Shifa Hospital, enter the network to go south, north, and move up to the Rantisi Hospital area. Our entry into Shifa disturbed Hamas leaders not because they were hiding there, but because the infrastructure was used by Hamas battalion commanders to manage the fighting in Gaza City. This infrastructure enabled Hamas commanders to conduct operations against the IDF at the brigade and battalion level. When Hamas lost control of this infrastructure, they were weakened, leading to the defeat of the battalions in this area. Our duty to dismantle this infrastructure extends beyond the present; it is to prevent the existence of such terrorist infrastructure in the future, eliminating the capability of terrorists to fight, plan, and execute such attacks against us.
Inside this infrastructure, we also found weapons and intelligence material that enabled us to conduct operational planning and understand Hamas' plans and locations. This is now reflected in the IDF's targets and ground operations. This concludes our exposure of Hamas' underground terrorist city in the northern Gaza Strip; we will neutralize it, and destroy all its infrastructures at their strategic locations. We will also continue this operation in the southern Strip. We will reach the underground hideouts of elite Hamas officials in the Khan Yunis area. We have recently added another brigade and more engineering equipment to drill, locate, and fight the underground infrastructure of elite Hamas officials in Khan Yunis. This is a complex operation; it takes time to ensure our forces' safety, which requires us to be cautious when operating underground, and because the destruction process takes time. We are determined to do this as long as necessary. The ground operation will continue, and the airstrikes will continue in all the areas I mentioned and across the Gaza Strip. We also attacked in Rafah where we targeted commanders and will continue to pursue the Hamas leadership and officials everywhere in the Gaza Strip.

Today, we published further findings from the investigation into the incident in which the hostages, Yotam, Samer and Alon, were accidentally killed. Yesterday, we located a Go-Pro camera footage from a K-9 dog, which recorded the voices of the three abductors five days before they were killed. This happened during a battle where Golani Brigade forces encountered combat in a built complex. During this encounter, the dog entered first to clear the area. The terrorists shot at the dog, and from that point, we heard voices which, after analysis of the footage, were recognized as the voices of the hostages, all three of them fully vocally. We understand that they were in that building, located about a kilometer from where that incident occurred, where we lost the three abductees. After an initial investigation of the footage, we assess that the terrorists holding the hostages were eliminated during that encounter, allowing the hostages, it seems, to escape. From there, they embarked on a heroic escape journey until that terrible tragedy, which we focused on in the investigation. Yesterday, the Commanding Officer of the Southern Command presented the investigation to the Chief of the General Staff, who instructed the investigation to be completed in light of the new findings revealed. It will be summarized in the coming days, then presented to the families, along with all the materials and footage. We will present everything to the families; we owe these families the truth and a full presentation of the investigation, which is what will happen. We will decide on the information to share with the public and the media only after the families have had the opportunity to view it and after they and those fallen receive our respectful acknowledgment of the incident. It is our responsibility to learn the lessons of the event and do everything to prevent such an incident from recurring and to create operational opportunities in the ongoing ground operation that will lead to the rescue of hostages. The return of hostages is one of the war's objectives; the IDF is investing special forces and intelligence in locating them. It is a top priority; the forces in the field are now being trained on how to search for hostages. We will continue to make all possible efforts to return the hostages held in Gaza. We embrace the families of the hostages and continue to support them.

In the north, we attacked a series of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon from the air and land throughout the day in response to launches towards our territory. Our policy remains clear: we respond to any threat at the border, we deny Hezbollah's capabilities in Lebanese territory, especially near the border. Southern Lebanon is now a combat zone and will continue to be as long as Hezbollah operates there and attacks from within as it is currently doing. We will not tolerate any threat to the security of our citizens. Since the beginning of the war, Hezbollah has been dragging the state of Lebanon, and particularly the residents of southern Lebanon, down a dangerous slope. We will continue to attack and eliminate as we eliminated Hezbollah terrorists on the ground yesterday; we will continue to attack and eliminate them as long as they attack and target us. We will not allow them to stay near our borders. The Chief of the General Staff toured the Lebanese border today and met with the reserve soldiers. Our dear reservists fight day by day on all borders, and their extensive mobilization deserves the appreciation of all the state of Israel. We are working on creating solutions for additional assistance to the reservists and well-deserved compensation for their essential actions in combat; we meet them, know their needs, and talk with their families.

Today, soldiers of the Paratrooper Brigade, having displayed bravery and strength during weeks of intense fighting in Gaza, are taking a well-deserved break. They arrived at the City of Training Bases tonight to renew their personal equipment and combat gear, reunite with their parents, and recharge their strength to continue the fighting. This staged process will be repeated with different forces as necessary, ensuring the continuous leaves of our troops in the Gaza Strip.