The IDF has vehemently denied a report claiming that Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi rejected a plan to raid Gaza City’s Shifa hospital to rescue hostages in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre. The report, based on an upcoming memoir by former officer Ido Nordin, alleged that a multidimensional attack on Hamas’s leadership, believed to be under the hospital, was proposed, but Halevi dismissed the idea. The IDF responded, calling the report “false and baseless claims.” According to the IDF, the plan lacked operational plans, intelligence, and information on hostages in the hospital. “If there was intel like that, the plan would have been advanced to be carried out. The plan as presented would have killed hostages and harmed our security and our forces,” the IDF stated. The IDF also refuted claims that Halevi withheld information from political leadership, stating that he has spent hundreds of hours exploring various plans to rescue hostages. “The chief of staff has approved rescue operations that take reasonable risks, and when the operational conditions allow it,” the statement read. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)