TEL AVIV, November 23. /TASS/. Israel will not end the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but will continue it until Hamas is completely defeated, Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said.

"We are not ending the war. We will continue until we are victorious, going forward and continuing [operations] in other Hamas areas," the army press service quoted Halevi as saying on its Telegram channel. "We are trying to connect the goals of the war, so that the pressure from the ground operation brings about the ability to also achieve the goal of this war, to create the conditions for the release of the abducted hostages," the defense official added.

The army press service said that Halevi "met with the brigade commanders of the 36th Division, inside the Gaza Strip" and "conducted a situational assessment for continued operations along with the Commanding Officer of the Southern Command and the Commander of the 36th Division."