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The chief of staff of Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, spoke with the troops over the radio as he flew over the Gaza Strip to take stock of the ongoing ground operations against Hamas, The Times of Israel reported on Sunday.
IDF also published a video of Halevi identifying Hamas's Golani Brigade in Gaza. The Times of Israel quoted Colonel Yair Pali, who spoke with the IDF chief on the radio, as telling the latter, "Right now we are waving at you with the flag of the 1st Brigade, and with the flag of the number one country." "Tell all your people that you are doing an important job, everyone is behind you, and the entire IDF is working for you to advance, until victory," Halevi responded. Halevi was joined by Israel Air Force's chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Omer Tishler, and the commander of the 100th Squadron, Lt. Col. Shay (his last name is withheld by the IDF for security reasons). Meanwhile, the IDF said a "significant" number of soldiers are carrying out ground operations at the al-Shati camp in Gaza City, The Times of Israel reported. It said troops from the Givati Brigade identified civilians in a building and helped them evacuate. The IDF said Hamas opened fire at the soldiers during the evacuation. Further, according to the IDF, the troops returned fire and turned their tanks on the terrorists, killing them. In another incident, the IDF said the soldiers identified a group of Hamas operatives holed up in a building in al-Shati and directed an airstrike on them. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Hamas an "integral part of the axis of terrorism" led by Iran, which he said endangers the Middle East and Arab world as well. Addressing the press conference at Kirya in Tel Aviv, he said, "Hamas is an integral part of the axis of terrorism led by Iran, and this axis of terrorism and evil endangers the entire Middle East, and the entire Arab world as well. I am convinced that many Arab leaders understand this." Netanyahu urged the leaders of Arab states to come out against Hamas. He claimed that Hamas, in the past 16 years, has brought disaster to Gaza. He said Hamas brought "blood and poverty" to the residents of Gaza: (ANI)
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