Fighting in Jabaliya has entered its second month and is continuing to take a heavy toll. Five soldiers were killed there within a single day in two separate incidents, bringing the death toll among Israeli troops fighting there to 24 since the operation in Jabaliya began just six weeks ago.
Despite two previous IDF raids on the city in the past year — one in December and another in May and June – Jabaliya remains a focus of intensive combat.
During operations by the Kfir Brigade in the area, troops located and destroyed rocket launchers aimed at Israeli communities along the Gaza border. Additionally, IDF forces uncovered Hamas uniforms, military equipment, AK-47 rifles, and weapons components. The Kfir Brigade has neutralized around 50 terrorists in close-quarters combat and airstrikes and dismantled dozens of terrorist infrastructures.
Lt. Col. Yoel, commander of the Shimshon Battalion near a Hamas rocket launcher
(Video: IDF)
Lt. Col. Yoel, commander of the Shimshon Battalion, commented near a discovered rocket launcher: "Right here beside me is a launch site. This is where Hamas launches rockets at Israel's Gaza border communities. We will reach any location the enemy uses to set up launch facilities or anything targeting Israeli civilians. We will find it, destroy it, and eliminate the threat."
Israeli forces are continuing to fortify a new cross-beam axis around the northern third of Gaza. This route cuts between Gaza City and Jabaliya to its north, enhancing control over the area.
The combat patterns have remained largely unchanged in the sixth week of the raid: Forces sweep Hamas strongholds, primarily within Jabaliya's refugee camp, and apply pressure on two nearby towns, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia, encouraging any remaining civilians to move southward toward Gaza City – and ideally beyond the Nitzarim area to the southern part of Gaza.
IDF forces are discovering weapons caches daily and engaging with terrorists regularly. The primary threat remains IEDs: Hamas has rigged more than 200 buildings in Jabaliya, primarily with "dumb" explosives using improvised tripwires but without surveillance cameras.
The IDF estimates this operation will be more prolonged than previous ones, potentially lasting several more weeks. Three IDF brigades under the 162nd Division are participating in the raid. The IDF has identified Jabaliya as a core Hamas stronghold in northern Gaza, where hundreds of terrorists — including senior commanders — have converged.
Despite the IDF managing to evacuate tens of thousands of residents from the city over the past month, breaking what the IDF describes as a "fear barrier" imposed by Hamas, a few thousand civilians remain.
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