Israel will continue killing Hamas leaders responsible for the deadly Oct. 7 surprise attacks that sparked the latest Mideast war, the head of its military vowed.
"We aren't stopping, we are not stopping fighting," Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces, said in a nearly 10-minute video posted on YouTube on Sunday.
Halevi said Israeli forces were "operating in the entire Gaza Strip with various methods of combat" and accomplished "significant military achievements" in Rafah, where it launched an offensive opposed by the U.S. in May.
Halevi, who spoke in Hebrew in front of a pair of drones, made the remarks after Israel said it targeted Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif and a subordinate, Rafa Salama, in an airstrike against Gaza on Saturday.
The Gaza Health Ministry said the massive attack killed at least 91 Palestinians and wounded 300 in a designated humanitarian zone, and Hamas said Deif wasn't in the area at the time.
"It is still too early to conclude the results of the strike, which Hamas is trying to hide," Halevi said, according to an official transcript. "We are determined to continue and pursue senior Hamas officials, those who planned and carried out the October 7th Massacre and dedicated their lives to the murder of innocent civilians."
Despite saying it was unclear whether Deif was killed, Halevi spoke as if he were dead and downplayed the collateral casualties.
"Mohammed Deif was afraid to die, so he hid in a way that even damaged his ability to command," Halevi said. "He hid and sacrificed with him his people and civilians who were in the area, who were in danger, very few of whom were harmed. We found him, we will also find those next in line."
Halevi also said the Israeli military was engaged in "high intensity combat in the north" against Hezbollah militants and was "ready and preparing for the next stage in Lebanon," which he didn't detail.
About 1,200 people in Israel were killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 and more than 38,000 people have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza since then, with the Gaza Health Ministry saying the toll included more than 15,000 children.
Hamas kidnapped more than 240 people in Israel on Oct. 7 and only 50 of the 120 still being held hostage in Gaza are believed to still be alive, the Wall Street Journal reported last month, citing U.S. officials familiar with the latest intelligence.
