Lt Gen Eyal Zamir says forces will keep operating ‘proactively’ against Hamas, as Israel rejects elements of a US-backed disarmament proposal accepted by the group.
Israel’s military chief has declared that operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip will continue without interruption, rejecting any immediate halt to military activity even as international efforts advance a plan for the group’s disarmament and a phased Israeli withdrawal.
Speaking during an operational visit to Gaza on Wednesday, Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said Israeli forces had “significantly weakened” Hamas and “fundamentally changed the security reality” in the enclave. “The Israel Defense Forces will continue to operate proactively,” he stated, according to an official military statement. “We will not allow a threat to emerge on our borders as we experienced on October 7.”
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Zamir, who toured areas of the Strip and met commanders from Southern Command and local divisions, framed the ongoing campaign as essential to protecting Israeli communities near the border. He reiterated that the military would keep pursuing those involved in the October 7, 2023 attacks, describing the effort as a “permanent and ongoing mission.” The army also reported that combat engineers had recently destroyed a tunnel in southern Gaza containing dozens of rockets.
The remarks came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel had not agreed to a US-backed disarmament framework that Hamas accepted last week. That proposal, advanced through the Board of Peace and tied to earlier ceasefire arrangements, envisions Hamas relinquishing weapons to a Palestinian technocratic authority, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the deployment of an international stabilisation force. Netanyahu has insisted Israeli troops will not leave current positions “until Hamas is completely disarmed.”
Palestinian officials and residents have long described the continued military presence and intermittent operations as deepening an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Since the October 2025 ceasefire announcement, Israeli forces have retained control over large portions of the Strip, including areas beyond the so-called Yellow Line that restricts Palestinian movement. United Nations agencies report that the majority of Gaza’s roughly 2.1 million people remain displaced, crowded into limited accessible zones with inadequate shelter, water, sanitation and healthcare. Periodic strikes and ground movements continue to cause casualties and fresh displacement even under the fragile truce.
Israeli Army Chief Signals Gaza Military Operations Will Continue:
Health authorities in Gaza say more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured since the October 2025 ceasefire took effect. Aid organisations warn that overcrowding, disease outbreaks, and restrictions on movement and supplies threaten to reverse limited gains in food security and medical services achieved earlier in the year. Many families live in tents or damaged buildings, facing extreme heat, limited access to clean water, and the constant risk of renewed fighting.
Israeli officials maintain that operations target remaining Hamas infrastructure and fighters, and that the group’s military capacity has been severely degraded after nearly three years of war. Critics, including Palestinian leaders and international human rights groups, argue that the prolonged occupation of large parts of Gaza, combined with restrictions on reconstruction and movement, amounts to collective punishment and prevents any meaningful recovery.
The latest statement from Zamir underscores the gap between diplomatic initiatives in Washington and Doha and the reality on the ground. While the United States has described the disarmament roadmap as a potential breakthrough, Israel’s leadership has made clear it will not accept constraints that limit its freedom of military action. For Palestinians in Gaza, the army chief’s words signal that the cycle of operations, displacement and hardship is far from over.