The IDF said on Sunday that – if ordered – it will prolong keeping Jabalya cut-off from Gaza City.
While both Jabalya and Gaza City are broadly part of northern Gaza, Jabalya, along with Beit Hanun and Beit Lahiya, are part of the northernmost half of northern Gaza, which has been progressively emptied of most Palestinian terrorists and civilians alike since early October.
In early October, tens of thousands of Palestinians were evacuated to Gaza City and further South, while large numbers of Hamas terrorists were also killed.
IDF evacuates patients from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip (IDF Spokesperson’s UNIT)
Both due to global criticism and having exhausted the main Hamas areas to attack at the time, the IDF then returned to smaller scale mopping up operations of smaller terror cells for much of the last two months.
All of this has come as there is an ongoing debate about whether Israel is implementing a plan known as “the General’s Plan,” proposed by a number of senior former IDF officials, to empty all of northern Gaza of Palestinians and cut it off completely as a pressure move against Hamas.
The Biden administration and European allies loudly opposed the plan and Israel has denied it adopted the plan, but in practice seems to have been half-implementing it in parts of northern Gaza, while allowing some Palestinian to remain in Gaza City.
However on Friday, the IDF, in coordination with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), broke this pattern arresting over 240 terrorists in a targeted operation against Hamas’s latest attempt to reconstitute itself in northern gaza, largely embedded within the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabaliya.
In the weeks before the operation, the IDF already started clearing improvised explosive devices in the vicinity of the hospital as well as for most of the pathways and potential escape routes to and from the hospital.
Moreover, the IDF engaged in between three to four targeted attacks of smaller Hamas cells near the hospital, but was careful to avoid attacking the hospital itself.
IDF strategy
This was all part of an IDF strategy to lull the Hamas terrorists hiding in the hospital into a false sense of security.
When the IDF finally attacked on Friday, it needed only an hour to surround all routes to and from the hospital to lock down and block any Hamas terrorist escape attempts.
There was a short initial battle between Hamas terrorists and IDF soldiers, but all of those terrorists were quickly killed.
Two groups of terrorists also tried to escape in two different directions, but they were also killed by IDF forces, which had them surrounded.
Next, IDF officers called out the hospital director and explained to him the process for evacuating patients and detaining terrorists pretending to be patients.
Shortly after, hundreds of Palestinians emerged from the hospital into an isolated corridor where all persons could be checked. In the first ambulance of “patients,” the IDF found that 13 out of 21 passengers were uninjured and were terrorists pretending to be patients to try to flee arrest. They, and many others, were arrested one by one.
In addition, the IDF suggested that among those who were arrested, it was possible that new valuable intelligence regarding the remaining Israeli hostages may have been acquired, though, as always in such instances, the military cannot reveal any specific information.
Ahead of the operation, the IDF facilitated the evacuation of 350 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel from the hospital in recent weeks, working closely with COGAT. During this period, tens of thousands of liters of fuel, food, and medical supplies were delivered to ensure the facility’s essential functioning, the IDF said.
On the day of the operation, an additional 95 patients and staff members were relocated to the Indonesian Hospital with the assistance of local health authorities. The IDF also provided 5,000 liters of fuel, two generators, and medical equipment to maintain critical systems at the Indonesian Hospital. Hundreds of civilians were evacuated through defined safety routes.
The IDF’s 401st Brigade encircled the hospital, apprehended terrorists in the vicinity, and eliminated those who resisted arrest and threatened the troops.
Within the hospital, Shayetet 13 special forces discovered and confiscated an arsenal of weapons, including grenades, firearms, and other military equipment. During the operation, terrorists attempted to launch anti-tank missiles and RPG attacks but were eliminated by the soldiers. The Israeli Air Force also eliminated terrorists attempting to flee the area.
The IDF added that the arsenal of weapons in the hospital was smaller than in some other Hamas-run hospitals, as Hamas had adjusted to IDF hospital invasions and moved much of its weaponry to apartments across the street from the hospital. These weapons were also separately confiscated.
No IDF casualties were reported during the mission.
Hundreds of terror suspects arrested
In total, the IDF apprehended over 240 individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities, some of whom tried to disguise themselves as patients or escape using ambulances. Among those detained was the hospital’s director, suspected of being a Hamas operative, along with other key Hamas and Islamic Jihad figures, including 15 individuals linked to the October 7 massacre.
Testimonies collected by Unit 504 and the ISA revealed that many detainees participated in terrorist operations in the area.
The IDF reiterated its commitment to adhering to international law regarding medical facilities, even when such facilities are exploited by Hamas for military purposes.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry announced just a few hours earlier that the hospital’s director, Hussam Abu Safiya, was arrested by the IDF during the raid.
The raid on the hospital, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of Gaza, put the last major health facility in northern Gaza out of service, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a post on X on Friday,
Hamas claims that the Indonesian Hospital, where the IDF transferred fuel, as well as medical personnel and supplies, isn’t in service.
IDF solider killed
Separately, the IDF announced on Sunday night that Yuval Shoham, 22 from Jerusalem, from the ninth battalion of the 401st brigade in the Tanks Command, was killed in battle in northern Gaza.
In a separate incident, a Nahal brigade soldier from the 931st battalion was wounded also in northern Gaza, by sniper fire.
Meanwhile, the IDF identified that approximately five projectiles were fired by Hamas from northern Gaza into Israel on Sunday afternoon, the military said shortly after the incident.
It added that two projectiles were intercepted, and the rest likely hit open areas. There have been no reports of any casualties or wounded from the incident.
This came after the air force on Saturday struck the rocket launchers in Gaza that were used to fire rockets at the Jerusalem, Yehuda, Western Negev, Lachish, HaShfela, and Yarkon areas of Israel earlier that day.
Also, the IAF struck a launcher containing a rocket that was ready to be fired, which unintentionally caused the rocket to be launched. The military did not note how far or where the rocket subsequently traveled or if it caused damage within Israeli territory or Gaza.
On Saturday, the IDF intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza over Israeli airspace before they could harm Israelis on the home front. The military noted they had been fired from the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza, triggering rocket alarms across the Jerusalem region.
“The widespread alerts stemmed from concerns over debris from the interception,” military officials stated.
Expansion of Gaza operations
The strike in Gaza comes amid orders to expand IDF operations in the Strip. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi told the army on Saturday to reallocate forces from other sectors.
On Saturday, the IDF reported that the Nahal Brigade had concluded its operations in Rafah and had shifted its operations to move against terror targets in Beit Hanoun.
Israeli orders new evacuation in Beit Hanoun, residents say
The IDF had confirmed that troops were enabling civilians to evacuate the area through designated routes – ensuring they could safely remove themselves from the combat zone.
Later, residents of Beit Hanoun confirmed to Reuters that IDF troops ordered any remaining locals to evacuate.
Other IDF units, including armored corps and combat engineering forces, have been instructed in recent days to prepare for redeployment to Gaza.
This forms part of efforts to increase military pressure on Hamas amid hostage-ceasefire negotiations.
The Southern Command has also restarted planning and conducting aerial operations as part of preparations for an expanded operation.
The IDF’s current efforts include operations by the 162nd Division in northern Gaza, the 99th Division in the Netzarim Corridor, and the Gaza Division in the buffer zone, the southern Gaza Strip, and along the Philadelphi Corridor.
In Syria, 17 people were allegedly killed, along with several others wounded, during a drone strike in the Adra area, located in the Damascus countryside, according to a Sunday afternoon Sky News Arabia report.
The report added that the strike was believed to be attributed to Israel.
However, sources gave the Jerusalem Post mixed signals about whether Israel was involved, implying it might not have been the IDF.
Danielle Greyman-Kennard contributed to this report.
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