Former IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi commented on the Hamas attack on Israel in a recorded speech that was broadcast at a fundraising event for Friends of the IDF in the United States.
"This is a severe blow on a personal and public level, but we will overcome it," said Kochavi and added: "The State of Israel will no longer be able to accept the existence of a terrorist entity on our borders, and the IDF has decided to eradicate Hamas. The organization's fighting infrastructure is spread throughout the length and breadth of the Strip, within a civilian population, so it will take time."