Minister of Defense Israel Katz visited the Israeli Navy base in Ashdod today (Wednesday), where he toured the facility with Navy Commander Vice Admiral David Saar Salama, Ashdod Base Commander Colonel A., and other senior officers active in the southern combat zone.
During the visit, the minister sailed off the coast of the Gaza Strip and received an operational briefing on the activities of the naval forces in the area, including those of the 916th Patrol Squadron. He praised the soldiers for their unique contribution to the war effort – from enforcing the naval blockade to executing precision strikes on Hamas targets.
“Hamas must be decisively defeated”
In his remarks, Katz warned of Hamas’s ongoing covert intelligence operations:
“Everything Hamas is doing right now involves monitoring and updating target data in communities near the border, using sources such as the Iranians and others who provide them with intelligence,” he said. He emphasized that Hamas continues to plan for its next campaign – which is why, he stressed, the organization must be decisively defeated.
Katz added that Operation “Gideon’s Chariots” is progressing with full force, with a dual objective: securing the release of the hostages and defeating Hamas.
“There is no entity that cannot be overcome,” he concluded.
