“Committed to get all Israeli hostages out of Gaza”: IDF

Tel Aviv [Israel]: Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Jonathan Conricus has said that the military is committed and determined to get all of the 238 Israeli hostages out of the Gaza strip.

In a video sharing an operational update, Conricus said, ” We are committed and determined to get all of the 238 Israeli hostages out of Gaza.”

Conricus further spoke about the troops being stationed on the ground and added that they are expanding their activities in Gaza.

“We are expanding our activities in Gaza. We have conducted a few raids in the last few days…we have expanded those now and Israeli troops are now there in various parts of Northern Gaza.

We have heavily armoured vehicles entering into the Gaza strip with ….with lots of intelligence,” Conricus said.

“The situation on the ground is we continue to strike Hamas, we focus on our activities in the northern part of Gaza…We are hunting their commanders, we are attacking their targets…,” he added.

The IDF spokesperson also noted that civilians have been asked to evacuate amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

He said, “To minimise the risks for civilians, two weeks ago we called for the evacuation of civilians towards the south…happy to see more than 8,000 Palestinians have evacuated from the northern part.”

The conflict in Gaza escalated after the October 7 attack by Hamas, where about 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to casualties and the seizure of hostages.

Over 8,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7. More than 1,400 people were killed in the Hamas attack on Israel.

As the ground operations continue in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Defence Force on Tuesday demolished a home owned by a Hamas official in the West Bank, The Times of Israel reported.

The home was owned by Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri, in the town of ‘Arura, near Ramallah.

The IDF Central Command Head Major General Yehuda Fox signed the demolition order on October 27, according to The Times of Israel.

al-Arouri, who is based in Lebanon, is considered the de facto leader of Hamas in the West Bank, reported The Times of Israel. Moreover, he was also responsible for some of the activities of the terrorist organization in the West Bank, reported The Jerusalem Post.

Earlier today, the IDF fighter jets attacked infrastructure belonging to the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon, a military spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, weapons used by the terror organization were later destroyed, according to The Jerusalem Post. According to a military spokesperson, the IDF killed a suspect on Tuesday who managed to cross into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on Monday night.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is in the midst of war with the goal of destroying the military and governing capabilities of Hamas. He noted that Israel is doing this “systematically.”

At the start of the Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said, “We are in the midst of the war. We have set the clear goal of destroying Hamas’s military and governing capabilities. We are doing this systematically,” according to the statement posted by Israel Prime Minister’s Office on X.

Earlier on Monday, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gilad Erdan called Hamas “modern-day Nazis” and added that the terrorist group is not seeking a solution to the conflict.

He added that Hamas is interested in the annihilation of the Jewish people.