After the initial massive attacks on Israel, Hamas braced for a retaliatory assault. Israel delayed its ground offensive until October 27, giving the militants a time to regroup and prepare.

“For more than a year and three months, the IDF has been fighting Hamas and has important achievements – we have defeated Hamas’s military wing and eliminated the organization’s chain of command and its leader, Yahya Sinwar,” Halevi says following a visit to northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun.

A cease-fire agreement between Israel and terrorist group Hamas began Sunday with the release of three Israeli hostages, in exchange for some 90 Palestinian prisoners in.