IDF Chief having a media briefing: Image credit: The times of Israel
Herz Halevi, head of the Israeli Defense Force( IDF), has expressed his conviction of Iran’s involvement in the October 7 Hamas’s attack.
Briefing on the ongoing situation, on Wednesday, the IDF Chief said,“I wouldn’t put Hamas totally in the same realm as his Balaam Islamic jihad and the Houthis, but I would put them very much dependent on Iran, and none of this October 7th would have happened without Iranian money funding weapons.”
According to Herz Halevi, ‘Iranian proxies in the region are continuously escalating the city situation.’
Recalling the shock of Hamas’s attack , he also said that, “October 7th is a day of reckoning for Israel for security forces.
Then speaking on IDF resilience with regard to Hamas’s resistance, he said, “I can say that there’s challenges but at the end of the day, we have to work with what’s existing on the ground. And again, we want to continue to operate to defeats Hamas and therefore, we work with and through and in coordination with and respectful of the various organisations.”
Herz Halevi believes that the supreme leader of Iran and his military expertise, training and political guidance have been Hamas’s strongest backbone and support in the war. 2
“And what I can answer is that, it’s not really only a matter of believing. It’s looking at the intelligence and facts on the ground and looking at where the weapons come from, where the money comes from, where the political guidance, the military expertise, the training, all of that, goes back to Iran, to the code’s force the IRGC and the Supreme leader of Iran. And we see that with his Bala, we see it with the Houthis, we see it with the Islamic Jihad and to certain extent with Hamas in Gaza,” Herz said.
“I wouldn’t put Hamas totally in the same realm as his Balaam Islamic jihad and the Houthis, but I would put them very much dependent on Iran, and none of this October 7th would have happened without Iranian money funding weapons. And then, studies, clear and we see that Iranian proxies in the region are continuously escalating the city situation.”
The IDF Chief Also condemned Hamas’s proxy actions by the Houthis. And maintained that all affiliated sponsors of the war would be dealt in due time.
“The Houthis are doing extremely dangerous things in the Red Sea attacking international fried freightliners and shipping vessels in international waters. Not none of the three that were attacked Yesterday are affiliated with Israel. They are not partially owned by Israelis. Simply they were attacked in international waters by any Iranian proxy organization, using Iranian, weapons and Iranian intelligence and tactics.
“And I am a positive why there isn’t more action focused on that and more things being said in the world because I think that is really a threat to things that will affect affect global trade and the free flow of goods. And so first, it’s clear who is behind this? And our priorities are to deal first with Hamas and the terrorist organizations in Gaza.”
While trying not say all of the IDF plans, he also informed that there will be no end to making sure that all involved affiliations take responsibility for their actions.
“But I don’t think that we have said that we have limited ourselves to that and I wouldn’t want to get the head of ourselves and telegraph what we’re going to do to whom and when, but suffice to say that it is clear for us, who is behind it. And that they have, of course, very responsibility for their actions,” he concluded.
