Commander of Division 162: "We are at the Gates of Gaza City"

Brigade 162 Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yitzhak Cohen, addressed today (Wednesday) the continuation of the fighting in the Gaza Strip. In his words, he said that the forces "are deep inside the Gaza Strip near the gates of Gaza City," and he praised his soldiers for their activity.

"On October 7th, Hamas chose to go to war, we did not choose this war. On that day, the brigade forces jumped from every place to save human lives," he said. "In the first two days, we tried to save human lives and spared no effort to apprehend the people alive. We lost dear friends, including the commander of the division, his deputy, two commanders, and 28 more very dear soldiers to us."

"A day later, we went on an important mission, which was a preparation for what we are doing now - going out to decisively defeat Hamas," Cohen added. "We are currently in the midst of a battle, our forces are deep inside the Gaza Strip, near the gates of Gaza City. In the last five days, I have met with fighters and commanders who are fighting side by side with determination and courage, understanding their mission very well, and they are determined to pursue contact. Even in these days, we have lost very dear people to us, heroes of Israel. I saw the spark in their eyes."

"We went to war to hold the hand of Hamas that chose to strangle our throats. We will win, and we understand that the task is long. We have all the power and backing in the world to do it," he concluded. "In the last 5 days, we dismantled many of Hamas' capabilities, targeted its strategic assets, its entire formation - and we will meet with it later in the coming days to defeat it."