Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: IDF
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir holds a situation assessment in the Gaza Strip, June 1, 2025
(JNS) — Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Sunday ordered ground troops to intensify operations in the Gaza Strip, aiming to create conditions for the return of the remaining 58 hostages and the decisive defeat of Hamas.
“We are in the midst of a powerful and relentless operation — thanks to you, Hamas is losing control,” Zamir told troops during a field tour of southern Gaza. “We eliminated the mass murderer Mohammed Sinwar, and to all the other perpetrators of October 7, we are sending a clear message: Your day will come.”
The IDF on Saturday confirmed that it had killed Sinwar, the head of the terrorist organization’s “military wing,” in a May 13 strike in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza.
Sinwar was the brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former leader of the terror group who was slain by Israeli ground forces on Oct. 16, 2024.
“The IDF continues to hold and clear wide areas of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure,” Zamir continued. “The effort is ongoing in all arenas, according to a structured plan and at an adjusted pace — until all of the operation’s objectives are achieved: the return of all our hostages and the elimination of Hamas’s governing capabilities and military wing.”
Earlier on Sunday, the military confirmed that it had killed Khalil Abd al-Nasser Muhammad Khatib, a senior Hamas terrorist responsible for an attack that killed 21 Israeli troops on Jan. 22, 2024.
A total of 24 soldiers died in two separate Hamas attacks that day, the deadliest day for the army since it launched the ground invasion in Gaza in response to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
At Zamir’s direction, the IDF’s “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” is ramping up in Gaza, with the Israeli Air Force striking dozens of terror targets over the past 24 hours. The strikes have hit Hamas operatives, booby-trapped structures, underground tunnels, and sniper and anti-tank missile firing positions.
