“The mission is not over; they continue to fire from the north, the hostages are in Gaza, and we haven't finished with Hamas in the south.”
“We have three objectives: returning the hostages, dismantling Hamas and safely bringing back the residents of the north. These three remain our focus, despite the current media attention on the northern front,” said Brig. Gen. Amichai Levin, commander of Hatzerim Air Force Base, in a joint interview with Lt. Col. M., commander of the 69th Squadron, following the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Friday.
“The base, the squadron, and the entire IAF continue to operate intensively and significantly in Gaza, but we’ve reached a strategic point where it became necessary to separate the northern front from the Gaza arena to achieve all our objectives,” said Levin on Saturday. “If we want to return residents to the northern border, the separation between the fronts is critical, to dismantle Hamas and create conditions for the return of the hostages,” he added.
“Yesterday, we carried out a historic operation with deep strategic importance that extends beyond Lebanon’s borders. Nasrallah’s elimination will have a profound impact that will change the Middle East and bring us closer to achieving our war objectives. It was a very complex operation planned for a long time,” said Levin.