Hours after entering the role, new Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met Wednesday evening with the IDF’s top brass, announcing a series of dramatic decisions, including appointing an external panel of experts to reevaluate the military’s probes into the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, as well as closing the IDF’s Iran directorate and forming a new tank brigade.

Axar.az reports citing the Times of Israel, during the meeting with the IDF General Staff Forum — made up of the military’s top generals as well as some civilian members — Zamir stated that 2025 would be “a year of war” with a focus on the Gaza Strip and Iran, while “preserving the achievements and deepening them in other arenas.”

Zamir told the generals that returning the hostages held by the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip is “a moral duty,” and the IDF would act to return all of them home. Zamir decided to place the photos of the hostages in his office until they are returned.

The new IDF chief announced the beginning of a new multi-year plan for the military, the planning of which was to start in the second half of this year.