In an interview with The Media Line, Brig. Gen. (ret.) Amir Avivi hinted at Israeli involvement in a recent chemical
strike on Iranian rocket fuel, observing that “this attack was on fuel for ballistic rockets. So it makes sense
that this is a planned attack and not an accident.”
Looking ahead to renewed US–Iran negotiations, Avivi warned against trusting Tehran’s intentions. He
noted that Iranian state media “are laughing at the US. They think they’re having the upper hand,” and
pressed President Trump to choose “whether he’s going to be a Churchill or a Chamberlain,” insisting that
if Iran does not fully dismantle its nuclear sites, “there is one option, an attack on the nuclear sites.”
On US-Israeli coordination, Avivi said the two governments “talk frequently” but that Washington houses
voices seeking to retreat from global leadership. He urged a “massive airstrike, just as the US is doing
now on the Houthis, just as Israel did before in Iran, but a much bigger attack,” arguing such a decisive
blow would “stop the war and not open a new war” by crippling Iran’s ability to respond.
Israel still aims to return all hostage, eradicate Hamas in Gaza
Turning to the Gaza conflict, Avivi reaffirmed Israel’s dual objectives: “to eradicate Hamas as a
governmental and military entity, to bring back all the remaining hostages, and to create a reality that
never again there will be a terror army in the Gaza Strip.” He explained that Israel is prioritizing a hostage
deal first. Still, if talks falter, they will “launch a full-scale attack into Gaza.
Addressing troop morale, Avivi said that soldiers remain confident as long as their objectives are clear.
“What the soldiers don’t like is when they feel that time is being wasted, that they are endangering their
lives, not for a worthy cause,” he said, adding that once troops know “they will be sent to win this war,”
morale will stay “very, very high.”