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Gaza War Will Continue for ‘Many Months,’ Israel’s Military Chief Says
Israeli army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi listens to an officer as he visits soldiers during the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Hamas, in a location given as Gaza, in this handout image released on Nov. 16, 2023. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza will likely continue for several months, the Israeli military chief said on Tuesday.
“The war will go on for many months, and we will employ different methods to maintain our achievements for a long time,” Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told reporters in a televised statement on the Israel-Gaza border.
“There are no magic solutions. There are no short cuts in dismantling a terrorist organization — only determined and persistent fighting,” Halevi said. “We will reach Hamas’ leadership too, whether it takes a week or if it takes months.”
Israel launched its military campaign of air strikes and ground operations against Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian terror group’s Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state and massacre of civilians across southern Israeli communities. Israeli leaders have said they seek to decimate Hamas in order to eliminate the terror group as a threat.
Highlighting the campaign’s success, Halevi noted Israel has completed most of its military objectives in northern Gaza.
“The Israeli army is close to completing the dismantling of Hamas battalions in the northern Gaza Strip,” he said. “We eliminated many terrorists and commanders; some of them surrendered to our forces and we took hundreds of prisoners. We destroyed many underground infrastructures and weapons.”
However, Halevi warned that in “this dense urban area, where terrorists are dressed as civilians, it cannot be said that we killed all of them.”
Israel is now concentrating its efforts “in the south of the Gaza Strip, Khan Younis, the central camps, and beyond,” the military chief continued. “And we will continue to both preserve and deepen the achievement in the north of the Gaza Strip.”
Halevi said the IDF “will not allow a return to the security reality before Oct. 7, and we will not allow such an event to be repeated.”
Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas murdered 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 240 others as hostages during their Oct. 7 onslaught.
“We said from its first moments that this would be a long war because it was right to set far-reaching goals, and we will reach far — that’s why the duration will be long,” Halevi said. “Ultimately, will we be able to say that there is no enemy surrounding the state of Israel? I think that’s too ambitious, but we will create a new security situation.”
Israeli officials have reportedly told their US counterparts that the high-intensity phase of the Gaza offensive will likely end in the coming weeks, to be followed by a more targeted approach aimed at taking out Hamas leaders and other high-value targets.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
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