In the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces has “a job to finish,” said the Israeli premier.

By: JNS Staff

Iran’s plan for Israel’s destruction is “off the table,” but the Jewish state still needs to eradicate Hamas and the Houthis to fully defeat Tehran’s terrorist axis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

“We are still completing the tasks concerning the axis. There are still the two H’s: Hamas and that band of savages down south,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the Israeli army’s Military Intelligence Directorate, with the latter being a reference to Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists.

“The essence of what they have seen in Iran, though, is that there is no axis. This plan of destroying Israel is currently off the table,” Netanyahu continued, calling the achievements during last month’s war “historic.”

Israel must “first and foremost” safeguard last month’s achievement of decimating the existential threats posed by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, he stressed. “And there will be new threats, but in light of the capabilities you have demonstrated, I have no doubt that we will succeed against them,” Netanyahu told the IDF intelligence officers.

In the Gaza Strip, the military has “a job to finish,” he said. “The eradication of Hamas and the return of our hostages. We are not giving up on that even for a minute. Those two goals are intertwined.”

IDF soldiers continue to operate against Hamas terrorists in the Jabalia area of the northern Gaza Strip, the army announced Tuesday morning.

During a raid on Jabalia’s Al-Rafai school, soldiers encountered a weapons cache, according to the statement. In addition, Israeli forces discovered and subsequently dismantled a 1,300-foot Hamas tunnel located near the compound.

During additional operations in the area, the IDF dismantled structures from which Palestinian terrorists had sought to harm soldiers, it stated.

IDF soldiers “continue to operate with determination to eliminate terrorists and dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of protecting Israeli civilians, and particularly the residents of the communities near the Gaza Strip,” the military statement added.

Israel and the United States walked away from ceasefire talks last week as the Palestinian terrorist group “does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff stated Thursday.

“We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza,” the envoy added. “It is a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared on Monday that if Hamas does not release the 50 hostages it is still holding, “the gates of hell will open in Gaza.”

Meanwhile, after the collapse of the negotiations, the IDF announced it would be instituting tactical humanitarian pauses in the fighting, aimed at refuting “the false claim of deliberate starvation” in the enclave.

As part of that effort, the IDF has paused operations in populated areas of the Strip from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, and designated secure routes from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. to facilitate the safe passage of aid convoys.

          (JNS.org)