Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, October 10th, Evening

IDF Spokesperson’s Briefing regarding today’s events in the various arenas:

“I will, of course, begin with the counterattack efforts carried out in the south of Israel.

Over the past 24 hours, we have doubled the number of aerial strikes, focusing our efforts on the city of Gaza, where the leaders of the Hamas terrorist organization are located.

We struck areas in central neighborhoods used as gathering spots. Hundreds of terrorists were neutralized due to the strikes, and over 2000 terrorist infrastructures have been destroyed.

The neighborhoods of Beit Hanoun, Shejaiya, Rimal, which is a luxury neighborhood in the center of Gaza, al-Furqan, and Tuffah have taken great hits, and under the rubble lie hundreds of neutralized terrorists.

These neighborhoods are densely populated urban areas that Hamas thought they could use for their purposes, using the Gazan population as human shields.

These strikes are only the beginning when it comes to the city of Gaza.

The IAF continues to strike every neighborhood we have even a chip of intelligence regarding terrorist activity in. 

Two senior Hamas operatives have been neutralized today. The Hamas minister of economy, who is responsible for the terrorist organization’s funds, and Hamas’ head of international relations, who is responsible for coordination between the terrorist organizations in Gaza. We will not halt our effort to neutralize senior Hamas officials.

We are striking every Hamas operative; there is not a moment of quiet in Gaza.

Southern Arena: 

The terrorists who presented themselves as heroes on Saturday are now digging themselves hiding holes in the ground wherever they possibly can with fear and terror. There might still be terrorists hiding in the area surrounding Gaza; therefore, we continue to consider it a war zone. IDF forces are deployed in a wide manner, showing a strong presence.

They are scanning the area, clearing it, locating terrorists and neutralizing them.

The instructions given to our forces are clear: locate the enemy and destroy it. That is what has been happening over the past 24 hours.

IDF forces neutralized four terrorists earlier today in the area of the Zikim Beach, and additional forces neutralized two more in the area of Miflasim.

We are creating a strong line of defense along the Gaza fence using an ‘iron wall’ that covers all holes in the fence. The wall is composed of tanks, special units, and ground and aerial means. There have been infiltration attempts, and the terrorists have been neutralized before reaching the fence. Naval vessels and additional means are providing defense in the maritime arena. We are continuing engineering operations to restore the security fence and will continue with these throughout the night and tomorrow. We are continuing to evacuate towns and communities near the fence, and in a later situational assessment, we will decide which additional towns in the south should be evacuated. There are families who have chosen to stay, and we respect their decisions. IDF forces are present in all towns and communities.

We’ve scanned all the towns adjacent to the fence. 103 bodies of neutralized terrorists were located in Be’eri. We are gathering the bodies and will release the number of terrorists we have neutralized.

The Israel Police, ISA and Israel Border Police are our partners in the mission of defense and share the responsibility for Israel’s security. They are fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with IDF forces. So far, 44 names of Israel Police officers who fell in combat have been permitted for release. They fell in combat during encounters with terrorist squads. The officers fought courageously and stopped the terrorists with their bodies. This shows the true partnership between IDF forces and all Israeli security forces.

There are tens of thousands of security personnel, IDF soldiers and commanders in the field who are continuing to clear the area. Today, the Chief of the General Staff conducted a situational assessment in the Northern Command. The command is ready and will engage in contact in any security incident, striking back with strength. This was demonstrated today when 15 launchings were carried out toward Israeli territory, some were intercepted and some fell in open areas. The IDF responded with tank fire toward Hezbollah observation posts. An anti-tank missile was also fired toward an IDF post, there are no IDF injuries. We responded with fire and will continue doing so. We are on very high alert along the Blue Line. The IDF is at peak operational readiness on all fronts and in all arenas, including the central command.

Reservists:

Hundreds of thousands have reported for duty. The entire Israeli nation stepped up. 250 trucks full of equipment have been sent out today, and this will continue to happen every day. The IDF has equipment, we have high-quality equipment, and everyone will be provided with it.

Injured, Casualties, Hostages:

We are being very sensitive when it comes to the subject of casualties and hostages. These are challenging times, and there are many casualties. We have informed 155 families whose loved ones have fallen in combat. We embrace the families. The fallen are Israel’s heroes.

There are also many injured, and we wish the injured soldiers and civilians who all fought bravely a quick and full recovery.

There are hostages. We have informed 50 families so far and will release the exact number tomorrow.

International Media

Earlier today, we permitted international media reporters to enter towns adjacent to the Gaza security fence. They went into the towns in which the brutal massacres took place on Saturday. The area is still a war zone, but we decided to permit this regardless so the entire world could see the horrors Hamas has caused. Abduction of women, children and the elderly These are ISIS terrorist tactics.

The world needs to see the horrors, understand who Hamas is, and understand who is carrying out these atrocities. The world needs to see this with their own eyes.

This is a war zone. The commanders and soldiers are present in the field at all times. The IDF has witnessed what happened. We were fighting when it happened. We will not forget what happened.

It is extremely clear to us what we are fighting for and for what purpose.”