Israel focused right now on victory & dismantling Hamas, says IDF chief to troops

Israel has entered into the second phase of war against Hamas as it pledged to continue its "large scale, significant strikes" in pursuit of the Palestinian terror group responsible for the October 7 carnage.Talking to his troops on the Gaza border, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the military is solely focused on "dismantling Hamas."“The IDF is now focused on only one thing: victory, dismantling Hamas, hitting as many enemy commanders as possible, as many enemy fighters as possible, and as much enemy infrastructure as possible,” Halevi said.He further said, "We are at war, you understand that from day one. It will be a long process and we are now at the stage where we are hitting the enemy hard, also inside the Gaza Strip."Since the start of Israel-Hamas war, around 8,000 people in Gaza have been killed — nearly half of them children. Also, over 22,000 have been wounded in the regions.In Israel, at least 1,400 people were killed and 239 people are believed to have been kidnapped into Gaza.Biden holds emergency phone call with NetanyahuOn Sunday, US President Joe Biden held an emergency phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge Israel to work to protect lives of civilians as it retailates for Hamas' onslaught earlier this month.According to a White House summary of the exchange, Biden, during the call, with Netanyahu said Israel has the right to defend itself, but that it must do so "in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law that prioritizes the protection of civilians.”Both the leaders also discussed how they could track down and free more than 200 hostages in Gaza held by Hamas during its October 7 raid, as well as the need to “immediately and significantly” boost the flow of humanitarian aid into the embattled Gaza Strip, the Biden administration said.With inputs from agencies