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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells soldiers a ground offensive "is coming"

25 October 2023 01:28 (UTC +04:00)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to tell soldiers on Tuesday a ground offensive was still on track amid a growing sense of military delay, APA reports citing CNN.

"We stand before the next stage, it is coming," the prime minister told the Israel Defense Forces' Yahalom unit on Tuesday, according to a press release from Netanyahu’s office. "You know it and you are part of it; you are part of the vanguard."

The Yahalom unit is a special unit of the Combat Engineering Corps and is trained to deal with special engineering tasks, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) website. The press release said Netanyahu was briefed on the unit's recent activity and on its preparation for the future during a visit at the IDF Immanuel Base.

"We have only one mission – to smash Hamas. We will not stop until we complete it, with your help. I rely on you; the people of Israel rely on you. I am proud of you and I salute you," Netanyahu said as he met with troops.

Netanyahu went on to say that Israel is "striking the enemy with great force."

"Yesterday, in our attacks in Gaza, we struck the enemy the harshest blow they have taken in a single day. We killed dozens of terrorists, possibly even more. At this very moment, we are clarifying the exact magnitude of the strike," Netanyahu said. "However, we also know that even as we are active in additional sectors in the north, we are hitting whoever tries to attack us, in Judea and Samaria as well," he added, using biblical names to reference the West Bank.

The press release added that Netanyahu was shown some munitions that Hamas brought into Israel, which were seized by the Yahalom unit and given to its National Center for Neutralizing Ammunition.