IDF Chief: Army Will Not Hesitate to Hit the Enemy, After Reports Iran Hit by Cyberattack

The IDF “will continue to use a variety of military tools and unique combat methods to hit the enemy,” Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi stated hours after reports of a cyberattack that shut down a major Iranian port were released.

‘The IDF has a moral obligation to protect the citizens of the country from terrorist armies around us,” he said.

According to a report in The Washington Post, Israel is suspected of being behind the May 9 cyberattack as retaliation for Tehran’s failed attempt to target Israel’s water infrastructure.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it was behind the sophisticated operation on the Shahid Rajaee port facility in the Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas, which brought the shipping traffic to an abrupt and inexplicable halt for several days.

Kochavi spoke on Tuesday at the induction ceremony of Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin as GOC Homefront Command. Gordin replaced Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, who was named GOC Central Command.

Kochavi said that “while we do everything we can to avoid civilian casualties, the enemy makes every effort to harm civilians. Unlike the enemy, we will act both aggressively and with values, and will base our action on intelligence and operational need.

“Dozens of strikes, even recently, have already demonstrated the superiority of the IDF’s intelligence and firepower,” he added, apparently hinting to recent airstrikes in Syria against Iranian and Hezbollah targets.

Iran’s military build-up in Syria remains a red line for Israel. Foreign reports suggest that Israel has been behind the airstrikes, a claim that Israel neither confirms nor denies.