Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari November 14th, 21:10

Good evening,

Today, we notified the family of IDF fallen soldier Noa Marciano, may her memory be a blessing. She was kidnapped by the Hamas terror organization. IDF representatives accompanied Noa’s family, informing them of all the information that we have. The pain is immense and there are no words to express this pain. Today, I wish to send condolences and to embrace the Marciano family in its hardest hour. To the families of the hostages, I wish to say: we are working together with all the relevant bodies in all possible ways, operational, intelligence, and civilian, to bring your loved ones home. We will leave no stone unturned, we will miss no opportunity to bring them home. We have a deep commitment to their safety and to return the hostages home.

The fighting in the heart of Gaza continues. Today, we completed our takeover of Shati, Shati is the neighborhood which is the heart of the terror activity inside Gaza City. Currently, our forces are clearing the area and the buildings where there are terrorists, weapons, terror infrastructure, and are clearing it of tunnel shafts of underground terror infrastructure.

We continue to prioritize elimination of senior Hamas commanders as a central objective of the war, wherever they may be in the Gaza Strip. Our forces are operating in the field in a professional and determined manner. The activity is complex, in a trap filled environment, with traps both above ground and underground. There are terrorists there, but the safety of our troops comes first. We are operating with force. We are advancing. We have accomplishments. But, it is important that the public know that there is much more work to be done, and it will take time. We are operating to enable evacuation of hospitals in the Gaza strip, those that are in the north, including Shifa hospital, to hospitals in the safer south.

Today, the Al Quds hospital evacuation was completed. We have offered the Shifa hospital administration, alongside international NGOs, to transfer incubators, medical equipment and food, to the premature babies department of the hospital. The equipment is ready to be transferred.

In recent weeks, we have warned time and again that Hamas' continued military use of the Shifa hospital leads to the loss of its special protection under international law. We are forced to take careful and precise actions against Hamas' military infrastructure in hospitals. We call upon Hamas operatives in the hospitals to surrender so as to not further endanger anyone in the hospital.

We are operating with the help of precise intelligence to identify terror infrastructure with accuracy. As we proved yesterday in the Rantisi hospital, Hamas uses hospitals and its patients as human shields for terror activities. The world needs to know what is happening in the hospitals in Gaza, and we will continue to expose Hamas-Isis’s activities, and we will operate to deal with all terror infrastructure.

In the north, we continue to have a high level of preparedness. We are operating in accordance with defensive and offensive plans. We’ve struck a number of terrorist cells that attempted to fire at our forces with anti-tank missiles. Today, we successfully intercepted a rocket launched towards the territory of the State of Israel above the Red Sea, using the “Arrow” long-range defense system. An alert was issued in accordance with our policy. I will emphasize that the target did not, at any stage, enter the territory of the State of Israel, and the civilians of the State of Israel were not endangered.

We must not become complacent. We issue an alert anytime there is potential risk to our civilians. After the alert, it is important to wait, based on the instructions of the Home Front Command, until the shrapnel from the interception disperses. Following the instructions saves lives. So far, We’ve notified the families of 366 fallen IDF soldiers who were killed fighting to protect the state of Israel. Their heroism continues to power us forward to further achievements in the war. We will continue to accompany their families and to share with them in their grief.