During a visit to Nahal Brigade fighters operating in the Beit Hanoun area of the Gaza Strip today (Sunday), IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi remarked that Israel\u2019s success in securing the hostage deal \u201cunder these conditions\u201d was due to Hamas\u2019 significantly weakened position.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very persistent with Hamas in achieving the terms we want. We will also remain persistent moving forward, and I\u2019ll explain this to you shortly. Look, we wouldn\u2019t have reached an agreement under these conditions if Hamas weren\u2019t in such dire straits \u2014 we can clearly see that,\u201d Halevi stated.<\/p>\n
Halevi further noted: \u201cWhat brought Hamas to this dire state is you \u2014 alongside other forces, more strikes, intelligence, and constant action. I don\u2019t need to tell you this. In my opinion, since October 6th, when we began the operation in the northern Gaza Strip, we\u2019ve reached approximately 3,000 dead terrorists, with hundreds more captured. We take pride in pausing, extending a hand, and securing the release of dozens of living hostages. We will also take pride and remain determined to return to the fight and push forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cI\u2019m telling you, this is truly impressive. Right now, this is our position of strength. When we have our people \u2014 the citizens, soldiers, and female soldiers \u2014 held by the enemy in truly harsh conditions, we bear responsibility for the fact they are there. We are proud to make the effort to bring them home\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On the Gaza border, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi stated that Israel would not have reached the hostage deal “under these conditions” if Hamas were not in such a difficult state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,6],"tags":[1476,1477,1588,2631,1482,1475],"class_list":["post-13268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-idf","category-security","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-herzi-halevi","tag-hostage-release","tag-hostages","tag-idf"],"yoast_head":"\n