Beit Hanoun is in ruins. Completely. The walls of the houses are about to fall. In some of the buildings that are still miraculously standing, there remain clothes hanging, sheets on armchairs and equipment of families who probably thought they would soon return. A look from the inside reveals a harrowing picture. Huge amounts of IEDs are discovered with every scan - under the children's beds, in closets, in every corner. Other explosives such as grenades and various combat equipment can also be found. Hamas has indeed turned the use of civilians into an art.
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Division 252 has been maneuvering in this area for 40 days. There are endless terror nests here. Tunnel shafts, terrorists emerging from houses and underground openings and firing anti-tank missiles, troves of cached weapons. Everything from everything.
The Harel Division is made up of reservists who haven't taken their uniforms off since October 7. The Division Commander, Col. Itamar Michaeli, took us in his Hummer for a tour of the cleared areas. "Except for me and a few other staff officers, everyone here are reservists," he said proudly.
"Throughout all the wars, the division was deployed and mobilized. When the current war began, people arrived here even before the orders were issued and long before we fully understood the full picture. Everyone drove to the south. They left families and work and just appeared. Within 12 hours the entire division began to fight. It's unimaginable, but for those who know the people, this is not surprising," he says.
On our way in, it is difficult to maneuver in the alleys of Beit Hanoun. We're being transported in a Hummer as it makes its way through the ruins of the houses. After a short drive we are in the center of the town. It's barely noticeable that it's a two-lane road.
"Come on down here. I want to show you something," said Col. Michaeli. We jumped out of the Hummer. Israel Ben Pazzi, a 37-year-old reservist, father of five children from the settlement of Kida, comes to us. "We had a very significant encounter here," he said. "A battle from almost zero distance, which ended 0:6 for us. The terrorists stayed in the ruins for many days. We estimate that these are terrorists who came out of the shaft after we deprived them of the underground escape. They had no choice but to emerge."
Col. Michaeli has mostly reservists under his command from the armored corps, infantry and engineering corps. These soldiers have gotten accustomed to seeing difficult sights, removing Hamas threats from northern Gaza.
After finishing their task, they were divided into a maneuvering team and a defense team. Even before the start of the IDF's ground operation, the division carried out an operational raid deep into Beit Hanoun into the al-Karman neighborhood, which is located near Jabaliya. The division destroyed anti-tank missile launching positions, long-range launchers, tunnel shafts and observation posts there.
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IDF troops patrol the Jabaliya area, looking for Hamas
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
"We have quite a few casualties in the fighting," said Col. Michaeli. Beit Hanoun is critical because it sits in front of Israeli settlements such as Netiv Haasara, Or HaNer and more. Every day rockets were fired at these settlements. "This is where the terrorists set out for Sderot on October 7."
During the days of fighting, the division eliminated the entire Beit Hanoun battalion of Hamas, including striking senior operatives, destroying terrorist infrastructure and collecting cached weaponry that had accumulated in the houses.
"This is an enemy that has assimilated very well into the civilian space. They worked hard to build below soccer fields, children's playgrounds and hospitals. In all of these are complete terrorist tunnels with equipment and weapons," explained Col. Michaeli.
In the heart of Beit Hanon, the fighting still continues. The sounds of gunfire around us doesn't stop. Sometimes firing shells, sometimes automatic weapons and mortars. Near the kindergarten, Michaeli shows us a tunnel entrance that was cleared a few days ago.
"Here, this is the heart of Beit Hanoun," he said. "Right next to the town's main road. Near us are shops, playgrounds, everything. And we find an tunnel shaft through which the terrorists move and fight. It's a tunnel connected to deep fortifications."
We move a little further from the tunnel shaft and Nehamia Mass, a division soldier from Jerusalem, comes to us with a plethora of weaponry he found during his scans in one of the houses.
"Under a baby's bed we just now found improvised explosive devices, connectable IEDs and a combat kit with improvised grenades," said the soldier. "Here are also instruction booklets for launching mortars and everything was found inside civilian houses. These are explosives that can cause significant damage."
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Weaponry found under children's beds in civilian houses
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Throughout the current war, the reserves are very significant. This is evident in the large role they take in the maneuver, and unfortunately they also make up a high number of casualties.
"The main part of the military is reserves. The State of Israel does not know how to defend itself without the reserves, and they are standing on the front lines. I could not ask for a better family to fight with," added Michaeli. "They are super professional with a lot of combat experience."
And what about the future, are you ready for the next tasks? I asked the colonel. "Harel will be there," he answered confidently.