IDF Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi held a situational assessment Saturday with the troops in Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza.
Participating in the assessment were the head of the Southern Command, Major General Yaron Finkelman; the CO of the 98th Brigade, Brigadier General Dan Goldfus; and Head of the Givati Brigade, Colonel Liron Betito.
"It's very impressive, it really is very impressive - both the attack to here, and also to create the operation here, in a safe manner," Halevi said.
Also on Saturday evening, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud) and Minister Benny Gantz (National Unity) entered the town of Beit Hanon in the northern area of the Gaza Strip, where they held an operational situaiton assessment together with Commander of the Northern Brigade in the Gaza Division, Lt. Col. Haim Cohen. The Ministers later held a discussion with troops in the 969 Reserve Battalion.
"Every building from where shootings or launches are conducted, and every source of terrorism, must be taken down so that the residents of Sderot [Israel’s south], may return home in peace, knowing that threatening infrastructure no longer stands," Gallant said.
"What you are doing here is reflected in all of Gaza," he added. "I am sure that [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar is sitting in his bunker and watching television, so he is also seeing how Beit Hanoun and Shejaiya look. And that is also true for the Hamas battalion commander who is fighting against our forces now in Khan Yunis - he understands how the story of the Beit Hanoun battalion ended. These images reverberate in the entire region."
Gantz added, "I am sure that [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah is looking at what is happening here and he does not want to see it in his area."