The IDF's 162nd Division is poised to launch a ground operation Sunday night aimed at capturing Jabaliya, a city near Gaza City. The military effort will extend to the Jabaliya refugee camp.
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Meanwhile, the IDF's 36th Division is gearing up for an operation to seize control of the Shijaiyah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.
Jabaliya and the Shijaiyah neighborhood are considered major Hamas strongholds, and the army is preparing for stiff resistance from Hamas, which has concentrated its strongest battalions there.
Over the years, the terrorist organization anticipated that the IDF would engage in frontal warfare, as seen in 2014's Operation Protective Edge, by first storming the urban areas near the border.
A sensitive target in Jabaliya, close to the border, is the Yemeni hospital. Another challenge for the army in Shijaiyah and Jabaliya arises from the fact that hundreds of Hamas terrorists have fled there from other areas in the northern Strip captured by the IDF. Additionally, the remaining Palestinian civilian population in these areas, who have not moved south, is expected to further complicate the situation.
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36th Division soldiers operating in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Meanwhile, the IDF announced on Sunday evening that Haytham Al-Hawajri, the commander of Hamas' Shati Battalion, was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
According to the IDF, Al-Hawajri also commanded the abduction of IDF soldiers during Hamas' assault on southern Israel on October 7.
Hawajri also commanded the security of Hamas' operations at Al Shifa Hospital and led the fighting against IDF forces in the Shati refugee camp.
Earlier, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi paid a visit to the Gaza Division and spoke to reserve soldiers stationed there.
"We are looking at this operational pause, up until which in northern Gaza we dismantled two Hamas brigades, not completely yet, the 162nd Division is still working inside to secure our accomplishments and to strike more battalions,” he told the troops.
“Yesterday, and today, we eliminated brigade commanders, company commanders, many operatives, and yesterday morning we started the same process in the southern Gaza Strip, it will be with no less strength than that, it will be with no less results than that, and Hamas commanders will meet the IDF everywhere in a very, very strong way.
“I know that part of this is your capabilities, and a very large part of this is the fighting spirit that you bring and also the experience you bring as reservists. And we have the capabilities to do this in the most thorough way, and just as we did it strongly and thoroughly in the northern Gaza Strip, we are also doing it now in the southern Gaza Strip and we continue to secure our accomplishments in the northern Gaza Strip."