The Commanding Officer of the Southern Command, MG Yaniv Asor, met today (Monday) with soldiers from the 252nd Division and addressed the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and Israel's goals in Operation Swords of Iron.
“Since October 7th, we have been at war — a war for our right to live as a free people in our country, a war to preserve the Jewish homeland. These are historic days in which we are initiating, we are surprising, we are daring, and we are striking Iran—the head of the snake," Asor said.
"We cannot tolerate Hamas here — we will not end this war until the threat has been eliminated. It is this campaign which brings us closer to returning the hostages and the fallen. I fully believe that we will not stop until we bring our living brothers and sisters home. This mission lives deep within us," he said.
Asor continued, "With a spirit of initiative and offense, determination and perseverance—unrelenting perseverance—we will not stop until you have taken these ridges, the ridge that overlooks Gaza and dramatically improves our ability to protect Netivot, Sderot, Ofakim, Sa’ad, Kibbutz Gaza, Alumim, and Nahal Oz."
"When civilians look up to this ridge, they see the Israeli flag, they see IDF posts, and they feel safe enough to return. We will not stop until we defeat Hamas and bring our hostages home,” the head of the Southern Command concluded.