November 16, 2023
"Full Statement of the Commanding Officer of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar
"The IDF is on the 41st day of this just war, and we are hurting and we are fighting.
Since the morning of October 7th - that cursed Saturday on which we did not fulfill our mission - we have been fighting non-stop.
The many stories of heroism accompany us, the memory of the fallen and the murdered helps us focus on the extent of the responsibility on our shoulders.
239 hostages in Gaza. The Israeli Air Force, like the entire IDF, is making every effort to bring them home.
We are working intensely, the face of Gaza will change, every munition of the tens of thousands of munitions dropped is on intelligence-based targets, hitting Hamas operatives, commanders, the organization's infrastructure and its headquarters.
We are hitting Hamas both on the ground and underground. We have hit thousands of terrorists already, and we will reach them all, we have made significant achievements - there is still a long way to go, we will continue to hit them until we complete our mission: to systematically and diligently destroy Hamas.
For this, we have excellent intelligence abilities and excellent cooperation with the Southern Command, the Intelligence Directorate (J2) and the ISA.
From the moment the ground forces entered, the Israeli Air Force surrounded them with an extremely powerful aerial umbrella.
The simplistic and historic division of air and land is a thing of the past, the relationship between a pilot and the commander of a tank has never been so direct and strong.
We have developed a method of fighting, in which all of our ground forces encounter the enemy on the ground while surrounded by air support from the striking fighter jets who then destroy the enemy.
The Israeli Air Force has already carried out more than 3000 sorties of this style, both quick strikes, and strikes that happen within a few minutes of the request, this damages the enemy and makes the operation more effective.
At the same time, combat helicopters, transport aircraft and UAVs accompany the soldiers on the ground very closely.
The strike helicopters with the soldiers of Unit 669 and the medical personnel everywhere, quickly evacuate the wounded from the area - doing everything to save lives.
Soldiers of the Shaldag Unit, like all of the IDF special forces, are at the forefront of the ground operation with the excellent brigade forces on the ground.
I just returned from a sortie in an Apache helicopter a few hours ago and I can attest that everyone is doing an excellent job, everyone is doing a professional and good job, everyone is very determined to succeed, based on a deep partnership, good will and brotherhood of warriors - I really felt it in the air.
The Israeli Air Force, as the strategic wing of the State of Israel, is prepared and operates throughout the Middle East, wherever it is needed - in every place. We are of course well-prepared with operational plans for the northern arena.
The Aerial Defense Array of the State of Israel, the Iron Dome, David's Sling and the "Arrow" Aerial Defense System, is operated at the hands of the best soldiers in the world, and I am very proud of them.
Despite the high percentage of interceptions, this is not a hermetic defense, but it can be said with certainty that thanks to it and thanks to the adherence to the directives of the Home Front Command, many lives have been saved.
From the moment the war started, all the reservists showed up, over one hundred percent showed up, in the field, at headquarters and in units all over. I have no doubt that they are an asset to the IDF and an asset to the State of Israel.
The IDF machine is working well and achieves very good results, in the Israeli Air Force the machine is well-oiled and maintained thanks to the air crews, technical staff, air traffic controllers, inspectors and other combat supporter personnel - they are the secret of the magic and thrust of this force that allows us to fly for 40 days in a row and allows us to fly for months ahead - as long as it takes.
We have motivation, our strength is in our gut, we will know how to respond to any mission down the road, we have wonderful people in the service, we have enough munitions and a fighting spirit that originates from this wonderful nation of Israel.
We will continue to achieve all the goals of the war, we will continue until our families return to living safely in their homes for generations to come."
The many stories of heroism accompany us, the memory of the fallen and the murdered helps us focus on the extent of the responsibility on our shoulders.
239 hostages in Gaza. The Israeli Air Force, like the entire IDF, is making every effort to bring them home.
We are working intensely, the face of Gaza will change, every munition of the tens of thousands of munitions dropped is on intelligence-based targets, hitting Hamas operatives, commanders, the organization's infrastructure and its headquarters.
We are hitting Hamas both on the ground and underground. We have hit thousands of terrorists already, and we will reach them all, we have made significant achievements - there is still a long way to go, we will continue to hit them until we complete our mission: to systematically and diligently destroy Hamas.
For this, we have excellent intelligence abilities and excellent cooperation with the Southern Command, the Intelligence Directorate (J2) and the ISA.
From the moment the ground forces entered, the Israeli Air Force surrounded them with an extremely powerful aerial umbrella.
The simplistic and historic division of air and land is a thing of the past, the relationship between a pilot and the commander of a tank has never been so direct and strong.
We have developed a method of fighting, in which all of our ground forces encounter the enemy on the ground while surrounded by air support from the striking fighter jets who then destroy the enemy.
The Israeli Air Force has already carried out more than 3000 sorties of this style, both quick strikes, and strikes that happen within a few minutes of the request, this damages the enemy and makes the operation more effective.
At the same time, combat helicopters, transport aircraft and UAVs accompany the soldiers on the ground very closely.
The strike helicopters with the soldiers of Unit 669 and the medical personnel everywhere, quickly evacuate the wounded from the area - doing everything to save lives.
Soldiers of the Shaldag Unit, like all of the IDF special forces, are at the forefront of the ground operation with the excellent brigade forces on the ground.
I just returned from a sortie in an Apache helicopter a few hours ago and I can attest that everyone is doing an excellent job, everyone is doing a professional and good job, everyone is very determined to succeed, based on a deep partnership, good will and brotherhood of warriors - I really felt it in the air.
The Israeli Air Force, as the strategic wing of the State of Israel, is prepared and operates throughout the Middle East, wherever it is needed - in every place. We are of course well-prepared with operational plans for the northern arena.
The Aerial Defense Array of the State of Israel, the Iron Dome, David's Sling and the "Arrow" Aerial Defense System, is operated at the hands of the best soldiers in the world, and I am very proud of them.
Despite the high percentage of interceptions, this is not a hermetic defense, but it can be said with certainty that thanks to it and thanks to the adherence to the directives of the Home Front Command, many lives have been saved.
From the moment the war started, all the reservists showed up, over one hundred percent showed up, in the field, at headquarters and in units all over. I have no doubt that they are an asset to the IDF and an asset to the State of Israel.
The IDF machine is working well and achieves very good results, in the Israeli Air Force the machine is well-oiled and maintained thanks to the air crews, technical staff, air traffic controllers, inspectors and other combat supporter personnel - they are the secret of the magic and thrust of this force that allows us to fly for 40 days in a row and allows us to fly for months ahead - as long as it takes.
We have motivation, our strength is in our gut, we will know how to respond to any mission down the road, we have wonderful people in the service, we have enough munitions and a fighting spirit that originates from this wonderful nation of Israel.
We will continue to achieve all the goals of the war, we will continue until our families return to living safely in their homes for generations to come."
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