Newly-appointed spokeswoman to Israeli prime minister – and former ALL ISRAEL NEWS senior correspondent – talks about Israel’s objectives for Gaza War
Tal Heinrich helps break down IDF’s Gaza operation for a special edition of The Rosenberg Report
In a special Saturday edition of THE ROSENBERG REPORT to cover the ground campaign, Joel Rosenberg interviews former ALL ISRAEL NEWS Senior Correspondent and former producer of THE ROSENBERG REPORT Tal Heinrich about Israel’s objectives for the campaign.
“What are Israel’s objectives in Gaza?” Rosenberg asked the new spokeswoman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The goal is very clear,” Heinrich answered. “Israel said that it wants to dismantle the Hamas regime.”
Heinrich stressed that Israel did not start the war, did not expect the war, “but was dragged into” the war against Hamas.
The brutal Hamas invasion and assault was enough that “the Israeli nation has decided that it can no longer live next to an existential genocidal threat called Hamas.”
Heinrich shared that more than 8,100 rockets have been launched toward Israel by the Hamas terror group in the last 23 days.
Rosenberg noted that many were questioning why the government waited three weeks to launch the ground offensive into Gaza.
In response, Heinrich said the current military operation is “stage two, or stage 1.5 of the operation to dismantle Hamas.”
She also noted that the need to control the information released regarding Israel’s decision-making process has contributed to the slow process and especially because of the sensitive hostage issue.
“But be sure that these decisions are very, very calculated,” Heinrich stated.
She said Israel would act “judiciously and very decisively” to achieve “a just goal.”
Rosenberg asked Heinrich if the Israeli government could estimate “how many Palestinians have heeded the call” by the IDF to flee from the northern Gaza Strip and head south, and whether reports of Hamas blocking the escape routes and preventing Gazans from fleeing are true.
“These reports, unfortunately, Joel, are true,” Heinrich stated. She referenced a phone call that the IDF recently shared, in which an IDF officer called a northern Gaza resident “telling them to please evacuate.”
In the recording, the resident can be heard explaining that Hamas has blocked the road and is even shooting at people trying to flee.
LISTEN to an IDF officer in Unit 504 encourage a resident of Gaza to evacuate southward for their safety.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 26, 2023
Hamas continues to use the civilians of Gaza as human shields, not allowing them to evacuate. pic.twitter.com/KTu108FQPg
Despite such interference by Hamas, Heinrich affirmed that “many have heeded this call.”
Heinrich also reiterated that the Israeli government is allowing humanitarian aid into the southern Gaza Strip through Egypt.
“We said that no aid will enter Gaza from Israel as long as the hostages are still there,” she explained.
Israel is also not allowing fuel into the Gaza Strip until the hostages are released, as it fears Hamas will confiscate the fuel for its own purposes.
Before Rosenberg could finish the interview, Heinrich had to interrupt the remote interview because she needed to enter a bomb shelter, highlighting the continued Hamas threat from Gaza, despite the IDF's ground operation.
To see the rest of the interview, and to hear Rosenberg discuss the prophetic significance of the nations turning against Israel, watch THE ROSENBERG REPORT here.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
