IDF Spokesman: Hamas Keeps Fighting Because It Thinks We’ll Leave

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Saturday that Hamas terrorists continued fighting because they believed that Israel would soon have to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

In a briefing, Hagari said (via IDF translation):

Hamas and its leaders think in terms of “Tsumud,” which in Arabic means to hold firm, in other words, they believe that IDF forces will soon leave the Gaza Strip. We are determined and intend to continue to apply military pressure and to dismantle Hamas. The test will be in actions, not words.

In the northern Gaza Strip, we are focusing efforts in the area of Darj Tufah, Hamas’s last significant stronghold in the northern Gaza Strip. In central Gaza we are operating in the “Central Camps”. In Southern Gaza, we are fighting in the area of Khirbet Khuza’a, which was responsible for the massacre in Nir Oz, and in Khan Yunis.

Hagari also aired a video message from IDF soldier Ori Megidish, who remains the only hostage rescued by IDF soldiers thus far:

You will be celebrating New Year’s Eve very soon.

Meanwhile, my friends are still in Gaza.

My name is Ori Megidish, and I was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza and was rescued by the IDF and the ISA two months ago.

Hamas kidnapped me on October 7th from Nahal Oz base. They kidnapped us, some of us were only wearing pajamas.
They murdered my closest friends and many others.

I was there for 23 days, which felt like years. My friends are still there, held among women, children, sick people and the elderly. While their family members are all awaiting their return.

Despite my pain, loneliness and fear, while I was there, I had hope I’d be rescued. I pray that my friends who are still being held hostage have the same hope.

We must do everything we can do to free our hostages.

Hagari spoke amid reports of U.S. pressure on Israel to curtail its military operations in January, which happens to be before the U.S. presidential election officially begins with the first caucuses and primaries.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the 2021 e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now updated with a new foreword. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.