IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi on Thursday joined the IDF combat forces in the Gaza Strip and said that the war against Hamas is going as planned and it is possible even to expand it.
"In the forward thrust of the campaign, with what you are doing here with these battalions, the 36th and 252nd Divisions, we are pretty close to destroying the military tactical formation that was in the northern Gaza Strip. We will complete it. We have a way to go, but we are closing in nicely," Halevi stated.
He added in a conversation with the troops: "The IDF is going to continue its movement in the Gaza Strip, and as long as it depends on us, another area and another area, we will kill the commanders and operatives and destroy infrastructure. Up until now, you've done well, take what you've learned until this point, almost three weeks, and make it even better."
Earlier on Thursday, the IDF announced that in the past week, soldiers of the Commando Brigade, together with soldiers of the Armored and Combat Engineering Corps and with air support, conducted operational activity north of Al-Shati, the densest area the IDF has operated in since the beginning of the fighting in Gaza.
During the operational activity, the Commando Brigade coordinated 54 precise strikes from the air, sea, and land, during which Hamas terrorists were eliminated, and terrorist infrastructure, booby-trapped buildings, and tunnel shafts were destroyed.