Posted on 08/31/25
| News Source: Arutz-7
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday during the Cabinet meeting that the IDF struck Hamas Armed Wing Spokesman Abu Obaida.
Netanyahu addressed the reports and stressed that the IDF hit whom he referred to as "the evil spokesman." According to the Prime Minister, "We still don't know the final result. I hope he's no longer with us, but I notice Hamas has no one to answer that question for it. So time will tell."
Netanyahu opened his remarks by addressing the recovery of Idan Shtivi and Ilan Weiss's bodies from Gaza, and classified it as a great achievement. He said that "These are days of great achievements, but also very challenging ones. In an IDF and Shin Bet operation, we managed to return two of our deceased hostages to Israel and bring them to a Jewish grave. I am talking about Idan Shtivi and Ilan Weiss of blessed memory. They were both heroes. They both worked to save people. Shtivi was at the Nova festival. He could have saved himself, but he went and saved people and returned to save more, and after that, he was shot in the back. Ilan Weiss, aged 56, left his house on the morning of the terrible attack. He was a member of the emergency team, the defense team. He ran to the weapons storage room, and there he was murdered. The bodies of the two were abducted to Gaza. We worked in a months-long effort to bring them, and it succeeded."
According to the Prime Minister, "This operation expresses our commitment to bringing back all of our hostages. I remind you that so far, we have brought back 207 hostages, 148 of them alive. We will bring back everyone, living and deceased."
Netanyahu stressed that the government had made a clear decision regarding the defeat of Hamas and freeing the hostages, and noted that the IDF had already begun implementing the decision. "The Cabinet decided on the matter, to defeat Hamas and free our hostages, with great effort, and the IDF already began to implement this decision. I wish to express my appreciation for the reservists and active duty soldiers who are ready for the mission of freeing and defeating."
In further remarks, the Prime Minister noted that in Yemen, the Air Force struck a gathering of senior Houthi regime officials in Sana’a, while they were watching a speech by their leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, who “routinely promises in every speech that he will strike Israel, that he will destroy Israel. They’ve inscribed this on their flag. That promise will not come true, but our promise to strike the terror regime even harder is coming true - and how it’s coming true. In a lethal strike, the IDF eliminated most of the Houthi government and additional senior military officials. I also remind you that a whole coalition of countries acted against them. But we are doing what no one has done before us, and this is only the beginning of the strike against senior officials in Sana’a - we will reach them all.”
Concluding his remarks, Netanyahu emphasized that Israel acts consistently and continuously against all threats from the “Axis of Terror.” “Together we will continue to operate on all fronts, and with God’s help, together we will continue to win.”