Commander of the Southern Command, Maj.-Gen. Yaron Finkelman addressed IDF soldiers preparing to enter Gaza as part of the ground forces operating, the IDF announced on Tuesday.
"We are launching an attack on Hamas and the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip," Finkelman said. "We have one goal - victory! No matter how long the fighting will be, how difficult, there is no other result but victory. We will fight professionally and powerfully in light of the IDF values we were raised on, Chief among them is sticking to the mission and striving for victory.
"We will fight in the alleys, we will fight in the tunnels, we will fight where necessary. We will cripple the abominable enemy before whom we stand. My fighting brothers, the residents of Be'eriri, Sderot, Nir Oz, Kfar Aza and the communities of the Western Negev, and with them the entire people of Israel, are all looking at us now. Like me, they also trust you and believe in you, you are the generation of victory."