Wednesday 23/July/2025 – 04:47 AM
The head of the General Staff of the Israeli occupation army, General Herzi Zamir, held an expanded meeting with the participation of the Chiefs of Staff and the operational level, in the first comprehensive evaluation since the outbreak of the aggression on Gaza on October 7, pointing to the urgent need for a long truce in the military operations in the Gaza Strip, with the aim of restoring military readiness and building the army’s strength again.
The statements of the Israeli Chief of Staff during the Staff Command meeting
According to Yediot Aharonot, the Hebrew, Zamir, the meeting at the “Galilot” military base, said: 2026 will be the year of recovery, readiness and building the foundations, after these plans were postponed due to the Israeli government’s decision to extend combat operations in Gaza, as part of the “Gideon Vehicles” operation.
The Chief of Staff stated during the session that the army needs long breath and internal cohesion, as essential elements for its continued effectiveness, adding an implicit message to the political leadership about the danger of continuing fighting without clear goals or sufficient popular support.
Zamir pointed out that “Hamas has not been defeated yet”, and that the ongoing negotiations are not very different from those that took place at the beginning of the year, at a time when Rafah is witnessing a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the “Muraj” axis, which may enable thousands of residents to return, and perhaps also members of Hamas, in the absence of effective military control.
He also stressed that any unaccounted withdrawal from vital areas may lead to the loss of military achievements that were achieved during the battles in Rafah, which was the only city on which an actual siege was imposed inside the sector.
He stressed that the Israeli army did not conduct wide combat training for the second year in a row, due to the great operational pressure, especially on the northern front, explaining that this situation led to a decline in readiness, and the formation of heterogeneous combat units that lack field coordination.
Zamir explained that building a “new and strong army” requires the establishment of additional units and brigades, which means the need for huge human and financial resources, in addition to a full leadership focus on the construction process, despite the continued battles, adding that the army is obligated to maintain the achievements that have been achieved in the past two years “despite the high price”, and to prevent Hamas from returning to the force it was on the eve of the October 7 attack.
The Israeli Chief of Staff continued that the defense of the Israeli border in the coming stage will be through an offensive concentration inside the enemy’s lands, in reference to the army’s temporary “security areas” in southern Lebanon, the Syrian Golan, and the Gaza Strip, saying: We will no longer ignore the intentions and capabilities of the enemy, as we did previously with Hamas and Hezbollah … the circumstances are changing, and we need better intelligence and advanced technology.
In this context, he announced the establishment of a new training department within the military colleges, with the aim of integrating the lessons extracted from the last war in the army system, as well as opening field investigations on land operations in the coming months.
