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Israel’s Defense Chief Says Only Way to Free Hostages Held by Hamas Is to Keep Up Military Pressure in Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meeting with IDF commanders, including members of the elite Shayetet 13 marine commando unit, in Atlit, Israel, Jan. 17, 2023. Photo: Ariel Hermoni (Israel’s Ministry of Defense)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that the only way to bring the hostages held in Gaza back home is to continue Israel’s war effort against the Hamas terror group, rejecting calls for a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.
“Regarding the hostages, we have no right to stop fighting as long as there are hostages in Gaza,” Gallant told Israeli soldiers. “The only way to bring them back is via military pressure, because Hamas only responds to the use of force.”
Gallant was speaking to Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 marine commando unit in the town of Atlit, where he was hosted by David Saar Salama, commander in chief of the Israeli Navy, as well as commanders in Shayetet 13.
“We will continue fighting until we achieve victory — until we defeat the Hamas terrorist organization — removing all of its significant military and governing capabilities in Gaza,” Gallant told the gathering.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, launched the current war with its surprise cross-border invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terror group murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 others as hostages. Mounting evidence has revealed the terrorists perpetrated mass atrocities against the Israeli people during their onslaught, including torture and systematic sexual violence.
Israel responded with a military campaign of air strikes and ground operations against Hamas in Gaza, with the goal of freeing all the hostages and incapacitating the terror group to the point that it can no longer pose a major threat to the Jewish state.
“In northern Gaza we are dismantling their [Hamas] capabilities, dismantling their battalion frameworks,” Gallant said. “This enables an IDF [Israel Defense Forces] brigade to maneuver from place to place — Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia. The same goes for areas in the center of the Gaza strip, and we will achieve this in Khan Younis as well.”
In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Gallant explained, “we operate in a different way. It’s a cross-stage effort [operations that take place in multiple phases of the war]. There, we focus on reaching Hamas’ leadership and on the hostage issue.”
Some 130 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza after about 100 were freed as part of a temporary Israel-Hamas truce in late November.
Israel has come under international pressure to stop its military campaign and accept a ceasefire, which critics argue would allow for a negotiated settlement to the hostage issue. Israeli leaders counter that a ceasefire would allow Hamas — whose leaders have promised to repeat its Oct. 7 massacre “again and again” — to regroup, arguing the Iran-backed Islamist terror group will only respond to strength.
“The end of this war — whenever it may be — will be based on our achievements,” Gallant said. “This will include destroying Hamas’ ability to operate with military and governing capabilities. We will maintain freedom of operation.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed similar sentiments on Wednesday.
“The war continues, and it will continue until the end, until we complete all our goals: the return of the abductees, the elimination of Hamas, and the assurance that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” he said during a visit to the Nabatim air force base in southern Israel. “Let there be no mistake: We will persist in the fight on land, at sea, and in the air until complete victory.”
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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