Gallant: Gaza fighting to resume with intensity after temporary truce
Ahead of a slated several-day pause in fighting in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday that once the “short” temporary truce with Hamas ends, the Israeli military will resume “with intensity” for at least two more months.
“What you will see in the coming days is first the release of hostages. This respite will be short,” Gallant told troops of the Navy’s Shayetet 13 elite commando unit. “What is required of you in this respite is to organize, get ready, investigate, resupply arms, and get ready to continue.”
“There will be a continuation, because we need to complete the victory and create the impetus for the next groups of hostages, who will only come back as a result of pressure,” he added.
The hostage release deal, which was mediated by Qatar and the U.S., is set to begin Friday. It would see Hamas release at least 50 Israeli women and children it took hostage on October 7, over the course of four days, in exchange for a lull in the fighting during those four days and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel for security offenses, all of them women or minors.
Israeli army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi echoed Gallant’s comments earlier in the day, saying that the military is “not ending the war.”
“We are trying to connect the goals of the war, so that the pressure from the ground operation brings about the ability to also achieve the [other] goal of this war to create the conditions for the release of the abducted hostages,” Halevi told commanders during a visit to Gaza.
“We are not ending the war. We will continue until we are victorious, going forward and continuing in other Hamas areas,” he added.
The comments came hours after a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry confirmed that the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas will go into effect Friday at 7 a.m. The first group of 13 Israeli hostages will be freed on Friday at 4 p.m.
During the temporary ceasefire, Israeli troops will hold their positions inside the Gaza Strip, Israeli army Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirmed Thursday evening. “Taking control of northern Gaza is the first stage of a long war, and we’re preparing for the coming stages,” he said.
Hagari also warned that there may be unexpected developments amid the pause, and that Hamas will attempt to use “psychological terror” against the Israeli public.
