IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir toured southern Lebanon on Wednesday with senior Northern Command officers and held a situational assessment with commanders in the field.
During the visit, Zamir revealed that the IDF had approved plans for continued fighting both on the Lebanese front and against Iran. "We are at a very high level of readiness. Israeli Air Force planes are armed and ready, and the targets are loaded into the systems. We know how to launch them for a powerful strike immediately," he said.
According to Zamir, in coordination with the US military, Israel struck the Iranian regime "hard" and weakened its defensive capabilities. "We must not allow them to score gains now on the nuclear issue, in Hormuz and on the other matters on the agenda," he said.
Referring to the fighting in Lebanon, the chief of staff said the IDF was continuing to deepen the blow to Hezbollah. "The organization has suffered more than 1,700 dead since the start of the campaign. That is a severe blow," he said, adding that Israeli forces were "capturing and clearing key areas and pushing threats away from the communities of the north."
He also revealed that he had instructed troops to turn the area up to the Litani River into a "kill zone for Hezbollah terrorists," and said forces were operating in several sectors, including Bint Jbeil and the Beit Lif area, while other units were stabilizing the defensive line.
At the end of his remarks, Zamir praised the troops, saying that "There are extraordinary displays of heroism here. We are paying a heavy price, but we understand that this is our mission, and we will continue to advance, strike Hezbollah and destroy terrorist infrastructure."
