Lieutenant (res.) Matan Wiesel, one of the initiators of the "Reservists Protest," a protest movement that calls on the IDF to continue fighting in Gaza, tells Arutz Sheva-Israel National News about his call for total victory and to take the toll on Hamas and any terrorist who goes to harm Israel.
Wiesel explains the problems he experienced when it came to field decisions during the war, which, according to him, led to Israeli casualties. "In areas where I fought, there are currently no (Israeli) military forces. If we don't hold on to the territory for a long time, terrorists come out of the tunnels and attack our forces. I friend told me that he experienced an incident where a soldier was killed in an area where we were for many months. They were sure that the area was cleaned out, and we see that Hamas is restoring its rule in the field since we are leaving the area.
"What we're saying is simple - we want to win the war," Wiesel clarifies. "To win, at the most basic stage, you need to have military control over the area. As long as you don't have military control, you can not talk about achievements or victory. The second thing that we are demanding is to take a territorial toll on the enemy. Any terrorist anywhere in the Middle East must know that if he comes from a territory to murder Jews, that territory will no longer be his.
According to him, "During the battles I met friends, and we are witness to a phenomenon where the military endangers us because of the enemy's civilians. These civilians are under the protection of UNRWA and Hamas. Those terrorists know that if they come out with weapons we'll kill them. So they hide their weapons in the houses in the area before they attack. At night they sleep in shelters, and during the day they attack our forces, and return to those same shelters. Because we know that there are civilians together with those terrorists, we avoid taking military action."
Wiesel explains where he constantly sees the phenomenon: "My battalion entered a battle in the Darj Tufah area, and we were prevented from clearing the area with artillery because of the claim there was a 'civilian population.' The terrorists hide in these areas and come out when it's convenient for them. We can't shoot at them because we are still stuck in the concept of ethics from before the massacre. We don't understand that we're fighting a collective."
He continues: "In every home that I enter in Gaza there are things: I see a map of the Land of Israel and a very beautiful picture of Jerusalem. Their goals are very clear. They want to kill us and they are proud of the October 7th massacre. We need to change our conception, and understand that we are fighting a collective, and to win, the only price it understands is territory. Anyone who attacks Israel needs to understand that it doesn't pay for them because when they lose, they lose land. A foreign journalist asked me how we will know when we have won, we'll know when all Hamas terrorists say that Israel won."
Later in the conversation, Wiesel claimed that Monday's "Victory March" from the Gaza Strip to Jerusalem unites people from across the political spectrum, including the hostages' families. "We have families of the hostages with us, they support our struggle, and are marching with us. Everyone knows that the only thing that frees hostages is military pressure on Hamas. It is the only thing that will bring the hostages home safely."
Wiesel also mentions another reservists' protest which is calling for immediate elections: "I'm not part of these calls. I think that at the moment we need to win the war. No public opinion needs to pressure the government. They massacred us on October 7th, they raped our daughters, and we need victory in the war. To win the war, we need for there to be no more Hamas in Gaza. We have people marching with us from across the spectrum. Right and left-wingers, religious and secular, people who woke up in the morning and are marching with us. On Thursday we will gather a wide coalition of organizations which will demand that the government win this war, we will be there."