1/8/2025–|Last updated: 1/8/202509:11 AM (Mecca time)
Israeli occupation army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy vowed to continue the war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip until the Israeli prisoners detained in the Strip are returned.
This came during a visit to assess the situation in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, accompanied by leaders of the occupation army, including commanders of the combat brigades in the Strip, according to a statement by the Israeli army.
Halevy said during his visit to Jabalia, “We will not stop. We will bring them to a point where they understand that they need to return all the kidnapped people,” meaning the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Palestinian resistance factions.
The Chief of Staff of the Israeli occupation army also vowed to arrest and kill more Palestinians if Hamas did not release the Israeli prisoners it is holding.
The number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons is estimated at about 10,300 Palestinians, while Israeli estimates indicate that the Israeli prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza do not exceed 100 people, and Hamas has announced the killing of dozens of its prisoners in random Israeli raids.
Calls to stop the war
Halevy’s feast comes at a time when calls are mounting within Israel to urgently end the war of extermination in the Gaza Strip because it has not achieved its desired goals, and to also prevent the killing of more Israeli soldiers and prisoners to no avail.
Leaders of Israeli political parties criticized the continuation of the war on Gaza, and called for a deal to return the prisoners detained there.
Democratic Party leader Yair Golan said that every Israeli soldier killed in Gaza is a testament to the government’s political and security negligence.
Golan accused the Prime Minister of prolonging the war for political purposes, and said that the war in the Gaza Strip ended a long time ago, and that the Netanyahu government did not move out of a desire to remain in power and under the illusions of settlement in the Strip.
He also said that concluding a partial deal “to return the kidnapped people is a terrible path to an endless war in Gaza.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also said that the army’s presence in Gaza prevents the chances of reaching a comprehensive deal that returns captive detainees, and stressed that the army’s presence in Gaza conflicts with Israel’s political and security interests.