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IDF troops operate in Shejaia, Gaza Strip

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The latest Israeli military invasion of Shajaia has killed dozens of Hamas terrorists since Friday, but so far it seems to be more about destroying the tunnels that were missed the first time.

The operation is expected to last several weeks while Israeli forces complete their operations in Rafah.

By early January, Israeli forces had already gained operational control of Shejaia, but after withdrawing from the area in recent months, Hamas began to regroup.

However, according to the Israeli military, during the first invasion the force did not operate in all parts of Shejaia, nor did it penetrate a significant part of Hamas’ tunnel network in the area.

Throughout the invasion of Gaza, Israeli sources have stressed that it would take them years to destroy all the tunnels and that they would not necessarily be given enough time to do so.

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip. June 26, 2024. (Source: IDF SPEAKERS UNIT)

Fourth re-invasion in the north and center of the Gaza Strip

During the initial invasions of Gaza, many of the largest and most strategically important tunnels containing major communications facilities, intelligence centers and more powerful weapons were destroyed, but important parts of smaller tunnels could not always be fully accounted for.

This is the fourth renewed invasion by Israeli forces in the north and center of the Gaza Strip since mid-March. Previous renewed invasions included attacks on Shifa Hospital, Jabalia and Nuseirat.

According to IDF sources, Division 98 surprised Hamas in broad daylight on Friday and managed to break into a new makeshift headquarters set up in a school and a pharmacy within just 40 minutes.

By reaching Hamas’s new command center in such a short time, Israeli forces were able to prevent most Hamas terrorists from escaping – a problem that has been encountered in many other operations.

Some of the terrorists killed belonged to anti-tank missile cells, which were among Hamas’s most powerful weapons in ambushes against Israeli forces.

However, the Israeli forces did not resort to the method of sealing off the entire area before launching the attack, so some terrorists might have escaped anyway.

IDF sources reacted somewhat defensively to the need to return to so many parts of the Gaza Strip where they had declared they had gained operational control.

The source notes, however, that the speed with which the IDF was able to enter the area (namely 40 minutes, as opposed to weeks in December) shows that whatever version of Hamas was trying to return was exponentially weaker.



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