LIVE: Israeli government spokesperson Mencer delivers statement

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Shalom. I'm David Mensah, Israeli government spokesman for the National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the office of the Prime Minister. Please put your questions in the chat, together with your news outlet, and we'll get to them after a couple of items to share with you. First, this morning, a terror shooting attacked near Yavneh Junction, not far from Ashdod, murdering an Israeli policeman. Now, a police investigation says that the terrorist approached Highway 4 on foot, shot our policeman and then continued on a shooting spree and wounded four more civilians until he was neutralized by a quick-witted civilian. The road has since reopened. In the last two weeks alone, we have faced almost daily attacks. We have faced a stabbing attack in Hadera, a shooting attack in Be'er Sheva, which killed a young Israeli border policeman. Another shooting attack in Jaffa, which killed seven Israelis and a Greek national, injuring seven more. My own son, a 16-year-old son, came running home, having witnessed people escaping with a gun. None of this is sustainable. We know that this terrorist incitement seeks to kill Israelis within Israel. Make no mistake, our security forces are on extremely high alert. This incessant incitement comes from Hamas and Iran. They want more murderous violence, more civilians killed, another front with which to fight us. They will not succeed. Next, the tragic news of a fallen Israeli soldier. IDF casualties since the start of this war have unfortunately risen to 740. Sergeant Proven Bitan was aged just 19 years old and from Rosh Ha'Ayeb. He fell in battle in southern Gaza. As the Prime Minister made clear yesterday during his visit to the Galani base near Benyaminah, the soldiers that fell, as well as those that are recovering, they are the generation of victory, as he put it. Speaking of Israel's armed forces, he said that they are fighting a difficult war against Iran's axis of evil that seeks to destroy us, but they will not succeed. We are continuing to fight. We are paying a painful price. We have considerable achievements and of course the spirit of the IDF, the great spirit of our soldiers and medics and fighters that understand that we are fighting for our very existence and the future of the State of Israel. With God's help, as the Prime Minister said, together we will fight and together we will win. May his memory be a blessing. Next to our battle against Hezbollah, a terrorist proxy in the north, Israel is conducting limited localised targeting raids in southern Lebanon based on precise intelligence. Why? Firstly to get our people home, 65,000 of them, back to their homes in sovereign Israeli territory. Getting to the terrorists and eliminating them, relocating their weapons and destroying terror tunnels and significant underground infrastructure. You can see those pictures on the IDF's Telegram channel. Very comprehensive pictures and videos of this terrorist infrastructure and the vast array of weapons which have been captured. The IDF has uncovered dozens of terrorist tunnels including those that actually cross into Israel itself. IDF troops have eliminated dozens of these terrorists in close quarters combat and the Israeli Air Force strikes have located vast quantities of this weaponry. Now on UNIFIL, the Prime Minister said that the charge that Israel deliberately attacked UNIFIL personnel is not correct. It's exactly the opposite of the truth. Israel repeatedly asked UNIFIL to get out of harm's way. It repeatedly asked them to temporarily leave the combat zone which is right up against our border with Lebanon. In fact, on the very day that Israel began its ground operation next to our border with Lebanon, we asked UNIFIL specifically, please leave the area so that you are not harmed. Of course Israel is not fighting UNIFIL, it's not fighting the people of Lebanon, but it is fighting the Iranian proxy terrorist organization Hezbollah which uses Lebanese territory to attack Israel. Hezbollah attacked Israel last year without any provocation on October 8th, the day after the Hamas massacre and it has continued to do so to attack us ever since and has now launched close to 12,000 rockets and missiles against Israel. Hezbollah uses UNIFIL facilities and positions as cover while it attacks Israeli cities and communities. These attacks have claimed the lives of many Israelis including on Sunday. Israel has every right to defend itself against Hezbollah and will continue to do so. We do of course regret any harm done to UNIFIL personnel and the IDF is doing its utmost to prevent such incidents. The best way to ensure that the safety of UNIFIL personnel is maintained is for UNIFIL to heed Israel's request and to temporarily get out of harm's way. Lastly, an update from COGAT and their work coordinating aid into Gaza. With IDF operations in Gaza's Jabalia area targeting Hamas and the remaining elements of Hamas, Hamas are of course embedding inside civilian areas. So Israel is getting humanitarian aid to Gaza's residents, particularly in the medical field, in northern Gaza. Over the last few days alone, COGAT have facilitated 33 patients, accompanying personnel and hospital staff 67,000 litres of fuel have been delivered for operating hospitals, 800 blood transfusion units from southern to northern Gaza and COGAT is committed to getting more humanitarian aid, especially in the medical field, to Gazan civilians. Next on the polio vaccine campaign, 93,000 children under the age of 10 in central Gaza were vaccinated against polio over the last couple of days. During the first day of the second round of this polio campaign, 76,000 children also received vitamin A treatment. We are working with UNICEF and the World Health Organization for the effective vaccination campaign for all of Gaza. Just yesterday, 104 humanitarian aid trucks went into Gaza by Kerem Shalom and Erez, but just 12 trucks were collected from the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom by international aid organizations, which means that there remain 530 trucks worth of aid simply waiting for collection, which is a shocking and direct inefficiency of the United Nations. Six tankers of cooking gas for the central infrastructure have also been transferred, as well as a convoy of 15 trucks which entered Gaza directly through Gate 96. Currently there are 12 bakeries operational in Gaza, 4 bakeries in northern Gaza and 8 bakeries in southern Gaza. You can get all of these details of Israel's humanitarian efforts on COGAT's website. That's the end of our briefing today. I will now take your questions which you can put in the chat together with your output. Thank you very much. The first question here is from Joel Pollack. The first question, Joel, from Bright Rock News. U.S. troops have never had to risk their lives for Israel in any war in the country's history. Is there any concern that the THAAD, the Third Battery, will change that? Thank you for that question, Joel. Yes, of course, you're right. Israel has never asked for American boots on the ground. These U.S. personnel will be operating the THAAD missile defense system, which is able to shoot out of the sky from very high altitudes. These Iranian missiles which Iran is threatening us with, but as you know through this entire conflict, this conflict where Iran is trying to destroy this country, Israel has never relied on any other troops from anywhere else in the world on their own troops to take care of it. That will remain. Next, does the THAAD battery add to Israel's defense systems? Thank you for that question, Joel. Yes, of course, the THAAD missile defense system is a useful addition to seek to protect this country. And, of course, it does show not just in words, but in deeds as well, the U.S. willing to defend this country. As the U.S. itself says, it's an ironclad commitment to Israel's defense. Is there concern that Israel's THAAD battery will increase American leverage in order to destroy the United States of America? Thank you for that question, Joel. I'm not concerned with that whatsoever. Of course, we listen to the opinions of the United States, but in the ultimate analysis, we'll make our own final decisions based on our own national interests. It's always been the case that with any country which takes the security of its citizens, that safely, and that continues to be the case now. And the U.S. understands that fact as well. That we always listen to our closest allies. Of course, in the final analysis, the final decision will be based on Israel's national interests. Next question. If we must agree to release all the hostages in exchange for Israel ending the war in Gaza, will Israel make a deal? Let me just read that question. If we must agree to release all the hostages in exchange for Israel ending the war in Gaza, will Israel make a deal? Thank you for that question, Joel. Of course, we've made very, very clear that we must lay down our arms and release all of our hostages, 101 of them, amongst them two children, amongst them 13 women, and the elders, and men as well. Some of them, unfortunately, have already been killed. Then this war will be over immediately. What we're facing in our north is Iran's attempt to wipe this country off the face of the earth. It's an Iranian forward and military-operated base, hijacked, Iran's hijacked, and Lebanon's simply set apart. Lebanon isn't proxy, and that's why it is our duty to get our people back home first and foremost, but also to push Hezbollah back into that space, which will be evacuated by Hezbollah and taken over by the Lebanese army itself. If you want any other information about Israel's strategy to release its hostages, then Brigadier General Gald Hersh, who is the government's own coordinator for the hostage negotiations, is the best person to reach out to within the Israeli Prime Minister's office itself. Also, you can check out his interviews, which he's made in the U.S. media, where he's provided some innovative ways forward to try and get our hostages back home and other things which could happen to make sure that happens, to bring that about. They're an open wound in Israeli society, Joel, I don't mean to tell you. It's more than a year now that they've been held. It's an open wound that what their families are going through, as the Prime Minister said, is unspeakable cruelty, and we will bring them all home, every single one of them. It's one of our warheads. If you just scroll up for a second, I just missed one more question there. The next question from Joel Pollock about Lebanese. There were many Sukkot left standing after the October 7th attacks, some standing to this day. Is there an effort to build new Sukkot on the communities that were attacked last year? Thank you for that question, Joel. As you're right to say, tomorrow is the eve of the Jewish festival of Sukkot. There's tabernacles in English. Jewish people around the world will be celebrating that festival. We'll have to speak to the local communities around Gaza to get from them directly what the situation is regarding the question. Okay, the next question here I can see is from Greg Agar. You're saying that the UK Secretary of State for the Commonwealth Office and the Human Rights Institute of Foreign Affairs, Joseph Correale, after a meeting released a joint statement calling for immediate ceasefire and hostages and military aid to the solution, emphasising the UK's role in protecting its citizens. What is Israel's response to UK and EU foreign policy representatives? Thank you for that question, Greg. I don't recognise anything new in that question. There's lots of elements in what you put forward there. The war in the north will end when Hezbollah are behind the Litani River and will get our people home. We've had almost 12,000 rockets on the head. They continue to fall every single – all the time. I encourage you to look at the IDF's telegram feed where you'll see details of that incessant rocket fire. We need to get our people home. Hezbollah are being pushed back right now. The footage, which the IDF have recently released, of not only the vast quantity of weapons but also the terror tunnel network, which tunnels actually burrowing under our border and coming out, seeking to carry out – in Israel, seeking to carry out another October 7th-style massacre. We simply will not let that come to pass. Okay, next question. Washington Post, Tim Ferragher. The Washington Post recently reported that the IDF seized documents revealing Hamas planned a September 11th-style attack on the Israeli towers, including discussion with Iran and possibly Hezbollah. Do you confirm such reports? And for the day after, should Israel maintain a strong military presence in Gaza during the September 11th-style attack on Israel? Thank you for that question. There's a lot in there. Let me take the first part of the question regarding – there were arrests, and we've all seen reports of arrests made by Israeli police and anti-terror police regarding a threat to key points in our country. You mentioned in Tel Aviv in particular. And I will point you to those reports, and I will point you to the police who carried out those arrests of the anti-terror – our anti-terror forces, which have carried out those arrests. I haven't got anything more to add on that particular story, except to say that we are facing the most brutal terrorist army. Let's be clear. The purpose of this terrorism is to – it's an existential threat to this country. We wish to destroy this country. And our primary effort, the primary responsibility of this country is to protect the security of our citizens. And that is precisely what we are doing. No one on this earth should be in any doubt whatsoever of this government's commitment to carry out that responsibility to protect our citizens. I haven't got anything more to add on that, and we should go to the police to get more of that effort. The next question you ask is for the day after. Should Israel maintain a strong military presence in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, and the north of Israel? Look, we live in a very, very tough neighborhood, Fred. I don't need to remind you of that fact, which means that our armed forces will always maintain a strong presence in all areas where there is a threat to this country. That's precisely what we've done in the past. We were taken by surprise on October 7th. But all of us here are working flat out to ensure that that does not happen again. And we are removing the threats of the seven-fronted, Iranian-backed war against us, which seeks to destroy this country from wherever it comes. Next question from Jim Williams at Zambia International News. General Austin has spoken to his counterpart in Israel about ways to combat the drones being used by Iran and the proxies to attack Israel. General Austin said that if Israel wants the U.S. to provide the drone-destroying system needed, can you confirm that the drone system offered by the U.S. is in fact headed to Israel? Thank you, Jim. I haven't got any update on that in particular. And we'll provide the IDF, no doubt we'll provide some details on that as and when we are able to share them. Last question I can see here from Joel Pollack at New York Times. He claimed yesterday that Israel is using Palestinians as Palestinians between the Shields and Gaza, forcing people to enter tunnels. Have you seen that report and what is Israel's response? Thank you for that question, Joel. Yes, I have seen that report. And the IDF will always strictly adhere to the rules of war. We are a law-based society, a law-based government. All of the IDF, in its efforts to destroy this terrorist menace, let's remember that the terrorists have no regard whatsoever for international law. In fact, they seek to abuse international law as evidence by then holding 101 of our hostages. Israel will always uphold international law and the rules of warfare and conflict. That's key to this country and this government. I haven't got anything else to add other than that. Okay, that's the last question today. Now, for the coming period, as I mentioned, we have the festival of Sukkot, Tabernacles in English, which starts tomorrow. We have no briefing tomorrow and the next briefing will be next week. So, please do stay safe. Thank you for joining us and goodbye.