Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin in a video message (Photo: Screenshot/IDF)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed some 250 Hamas terrorists since resuming the fighting in the Gaza Strip on March 18, the army’s new chief spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said Thursday in his first press conference.
Defrin, who replaced the popular Daniel Hagari two weeks ago, gave an overview of the military’s operations across different arenas, with a focus on the Gaza Strip.
“We struck more than 60 terrorist targets in the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip to damage Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities and to prepare the environment for a ground operation,” Defrin said.
“Since the resumption of operations in the Gaza Strip, we have struck more than 600 terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip and eliminated more than 250 terrorists, including twelve senior members of the Hamas terror organization and its governing arm. They are all terrorists, all of whom took part in the Oct. 7 massacre.”
In the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF has called to evacuate the town of Rafah, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is creating a new corridor cutting across the enclave.
“We have expanded operations… with the goal of encircling and dividing the Rafah area,” Defrin explained.
In the north, the IDF announced Friday morning that Israeli troops began “begun conducting ground activity in the area of Shejaiya,” with the aim of enlarging the security buffer zone along the border with Israel.
“Our troops are operating against terrorist targets, clearing the area, and dismantling terrorist infrastructure,” Defrin said about the operation.
🔴 4 Hamas terrorists were eliminated by a precise strike yesterday in a command and control center serving as a Hamas central meeting point in Jabalia.
Among the terrorists eliminated was Shadi Diab Abd Al-Hamid Falouji, a terrorist in Hamas’ East Jabalia Battalion, who… pic.twitter.com/bjnxrVM9ax
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 3, 2025
The military said that troops had already killed several terrorists and “dismantled Hamas terrorist infrastructure, including a command and control center that served Hamas terrorists to plan and execute terror attacks,” in Shejaiya.
In the nearby town of Jabaliya, an Israeli airstrike on a command center killed four significant Hamas terrorists, the military announced Thursday.
Among them was one who took part in the Oct. 7 invasion, as well as a terrorist who took a leading role in the cynical release ceremony of former hostage Agam Berger .
— Voice From The East (@EasternVoices) January 30, 2025
In his briefing, Brig.-Gen. Defrin did not specify whether the ground operation would further expand, amid reports that the army has prepared a plan for a massive invasion of the enclave, aiming to completely capture it in one swoop.
“We are maintaining operational ambiguity to surprise the enemy and achieve significant gains – Our actions will speak for themselves,” Defrin said.
