IDF forces withdrew from the Zeitun area in Gaza early on Wednesday after operating there in recent days. the military said more than 30 terrorists were killed and a massive amount of ammunition was captured, but five soldiers also died in the fighting and 19 others were wounded while commanders agree there would be a need to return and fight in the city, again. "This is the reality we can expect, if we want to defeat Hamas," they said.
Col. Yair Zukerman, the IDF brigadier who has amassed the most battle experience since the war began said he was amazed at the amounts of weapons and ammunition his soldiers uncovered in the six days of operations.
The IDF operated there in November and December but since then, Hamas returned with a new battalion establishing itself in an area comprising of three schools and two adjacent health clinics, one belonging to UNRWA, surrounded by narrow streets littered by explosive devices, just waiting for the soldiers to return.
Under the cover of thousands of civilians sheltering in the site, Hamas gathered hundreds of terrorists and thousands of weapons including rockets, RPGs, mortar launchers targeting border area communities and even a small weapons production plant. All those were discovered and destroyed by the troops. In total some 120 locations where Hamas had operated were targeted.
The force also found stores of food that was brought into the Strip in humanitarian aid supplies and confiscated by Hamas, providing it to its fighters before allowing the rest to go to the civilians in the areas retaken by the terror group, as a show of governance.
Like in Zeitoun, in Jabalia, where paratroopers have been operating with the support of the Armored Corps. the forces encountered heavy fighting with terrorists and uncovered weapons and ammunition.
The military intends to move the thousands of Hamas fighters from one neighborhood to the next, in the hopes of forcing them into one area.
Hamas has learned much from the IDF offensive, but the forces have also learned a few things. A rapid entry of troops uses the element of surprise to prompt terrorists to escape, leaving their weapons behind. In some cases, the weapons themselves were boobytrapped but the soldiers were aware of that ploy and were able to avoid injury.