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Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant today (Tuesday) toured southern Israel along the Gaza border. Minister Gallant visited the IDF's Southern Command and conducted an operational situation assessment together with the Director General of the Ministry of Defense, Head of the Southern Command, and commanders stationed in the region.
Minister Gallant also visited the "Be'eri" Kibbutz, and met with soldiers in the "Shaldag" Special Forces Unit, Paratroopers Unit and additional IDF units.
"You have fought with great force, reflecting the IDF's ethos, and operating as you should have," Gallant said. You stood bravely on the frontline, you struck many terrorists, and saved lives. You saw firsthand what we are up against - the 'ISIS of Gaza.'"
"Thanks to your heroic action in your defensive mission, you will have the ability to change the reality here. You have seen the price, and you will get to see the transformation. Hamas wanted to see a change in Gaza - the reality in Gaza will make a 180. They will regret [their actions]."" he said.
"I have seen many soldiers and I understand what you have gone through. As a soldier who has seen friends fall in battle, I understand the sadness, the anger. There will be no situation in which Israeli children are murdered in the fields and in which Hamas will continue to exist. I have released all restraints. We will use all our force and make no compromises [on this issue]."
"Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors - we will eliminate him at the height of our power and without compromise. What we saw in the settlements there was a massacre, but in the battles - you won. We trust you and it is thanks to the IDF the State of Israel exists. We'll be back here, in Be'eri, in a few months, and things will be different. We will settle the kibbutz to the last meter, and what happened in Gaza will not happen again," Gallant said.