ByALEX WINSTON
Updated:

IDF Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi and the Israel Security Service (Shin Bet) head Ronan Bar went deep into Gaza with IDF troops to conduct a situation assessment on the ground, the IDF announced on Thursday. 

"The main strength for now in this war, which I feel all the time, is the cooperation; I turn around and see the IDF, in every corner, everyone is doing everything just so that you will be as strong as possible," Halevi said. "There is nothing they will not do to make you work well. Keep moving forward, thoroughly, and increase the pace. We are behind you!"


An IDF soldier in a bedroom located next to a Hamas weapons factory in northern Gaza.
An IDF soldier in a bedroom located next to a Hamas weapons factory in northern Gaza. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Fighting ongoing throughout northern Gaza

Heavy fighting occurred throughout the Strip on Thursday and Israeli troops cleared significant areas in the center of Gaza City that were the military headquarters of Hamas.

"There is a crazy and unprecedented appreciation for you with the public, on the political level, and within Hamas - it is getting better and better," Bar said. "As a representative of the Shin Bet, we work for the IDF in this war."