The Prime Minister's Office responded to claims that the placement of loudspeakers to play Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's UN General Assembly address endangers IDF troops.
"As part of the public diplomacy effort, the Prime Minister's Office has directed civilian elements, in cooperation with the IDF, to place loudspeakers on the backs of trucks on the Israeli side of the Gaza border so that Prime Minister Netanyahu's historic UN General Assembly speech will be heard in the Gaza Strip," the PMO stated.
It added that Prime Minister Netanyahu has expressly directed to make certain that this activity does not endanger IDF soldiers.
The IDF clarified: “The loudspeaker mission in Gaza is, from our perspective, a legitimate mission intended to apply pressure on Hamas and influence the population of the Strip.”
The loudspeakers were deployed in secured areas, mounted on trucks. Four are positioned inside Israeli territory and four within the Strip itself at forward outposts — including the Sabra area in northern Gaza, the sewage treatment ponds along the Netzarim Corridor, the coastal outpost in Rafah, and additional locations.
Parents of dozens of combat soldiers currently stationed in Gaza have written an official letter to the IDF Chief of Staff and the Minister of Defense demanding that they prevent the placement of loudspeakers to broadcast the Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to the residents of the Gaza Strip.
The letter was sent following the publication of Netanyahu's request to place loudspeakers in the Gaza Strip to broadcast his speech from the United Nations. The parents claim that the action endangers the lives of their sons and request that it be stopped immediately.
In their letter, the parents state that the placement will require friction with the population of the area and will put the soldiers in direct danger. They are appealing to security officials demanding that they prevent any initiative related to the placement of equipment that involves any proximity to the civilian population.
The parents wrote, "This is an action that requires friction with the population and clearly endangers the lives of our fighting children. Never in the history of the State of Israel has there been such disregard for the lives of fighters. The war that is taking place in Gaza must end and has no justification." They ask that the IDF command act on their demand and prevent unnecessary exposure of the forces.
In addition to the letter, the parents announced that a march will be held on Tuesday at 7:30 PM, leaving from Rabin Gate at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv and ending at Metzudat Ze'ev, the main offices of the Likud party. The families note that for now, other parents are often joining the call to return the boys home and stop what they described as an operation that endangers them.