Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held a situational assessment in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip on Thursday night.
He met with the commanders involved in the operation to rescue the hostages, along with the Southern Command Commander Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, 98th Division Commander Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, and brigade commanders.
He told them it took thirty hours to extract the bodies from the tunnels and that they were exceptionally well hidden.
Until the last hostage is returned
"We had been near these bodies in the past, and we didn’t know we only had to reach out [and take them]. Now we know to reach out, and we reached out. We brought five bodies, which we are not sure we would have ever otherwise been retrieved.""We won’t let up on Hamas until we bring back the hostages.
And we won’t let up on Hamas until we dismantle the last battalion, the last company. We are working very hard, always thinking about how to push forward."