Israel’s military pressure brought Gaza hostages home, IDF chief Zamir tells soldiers

The IDF chief warned that all soldiers must stay on their guard as “the enemy is still here – he has not disappeared,” and there could still be unexpected military confrontations.

While touring the front lines in Gaza on Thursday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir told his troops that their military pressure on Hamas is what will bring back the Israeli hostages the terrorist group kidnapped.

“Due to the substantial military pressure and the powerful and high-quality land invasion, you, the combat fighters, brought about the conditions to return the hostages to their homes,” he said. “The military actions led to the diplomatic achievement.”

All soldiers must remain on guard, because “the enemy is still here,” Zamir said. “He has not disappeared.”

There could still be unexpected military confrontations even if the general trend is toward a more permanent end to the war, he said.

Zamir did not mention permanently disarming Hamas. He instead focused on having achieved the goal of returning the hostages.

Zamir, Netanyahu have been at odds since July-August

Since July-August, Zamir has been at loggerheads with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, believing the prime minister should accept a deal, even a partial one, to get back more Israeli hostages, and expressing concern that too many military actions could lead to the deaths of the hostages.

As a compromise, Netanyahu allowed Zamir to use reduced military tactics in the Gaza City invasion, which would make it more possible for Hamas to flee with hostages so they could avoid getting caught and not lead them to kill the hostages they were guarding.

Netanyahu had been more focused on continuing the war until Hamas agreed to disarm as a price for ending the war.

It was far from clear whether Hamas will disarm as part of the current deal, which frees all living hostages at the outset, something prior deals might not have been able to achieve.