While most of the Israeli and global attention is directed to the war in Lebanon, which is now at a crossroads between approaching an end or the deepening of the maneuver, the IDF continues to act with full force in the Gaza Strip. The 162nd Division, which is maneuvering in the northern Gaza Strip, reportedly killed nearly 1,200 terrorists who were concentrated in the Jabaliya area, and took another thousand prisoners. Air photography and field analysis indicate that the Division actually created another corridor (similar to the “Netzarim axis” but narrower) that crosses the northern half of the Gaza Strip into two parts, preventing movement of civilians and terrorists back toward the northern border, which is adjacent to towns such as Sderot, Erez and Netiv HaAsara.
What is the plan behind the powerful action? Officially, this is a move aimed at conclusively and definitively defeating the northern brigade of Hamas. As is remembered, the brigade commander Ahmad Ghandor was killed in an Israeli bombing with his men more than a year ago, in early November 2023; since then, the various Hamas battalions have been conducted in a relatively detached and weak manner, and their ability to carry out attacks has apparently weakened significantly. If the numbers reported by the division are correct, then perhaps the brigade has already been irreparably damaged.
However, both in Israel and around the world, there are those who suspect that the operation is an initial tool experiment in ‘the Generals’ Plan’, which was published a number of former IDF officers led by Giora Eiland, who call for the gradual isolation of different areas of the Gaza Strip, the expulsion of the population from them, and the final destruction of infrastructure and elimination of all terrorists. The IDF denied that this was the essence of the operation (mainly due to fear of international criticism), but according to media reports, tens of thousands of Gazans were evacuated south of the corridor that had been created in Jabaliya.
Whatever the nature of the action, it is clear that this is an important act to advance the defeat of Hamas and achieve the goals of the war. However, the important action is not without prices – in the last two days the names of five IDF soldiers who were killed in Jabaliya have been published: two days ago, Major Itamar Levin-Friedman, 34, was killed by an anti-tank missle; and yesterday, four fighters from the Kfir Brigade were killed: Or Katz (20 years old from Ma’ale Adumim), Gary Zolat (21 years old from Afula), Ofir Eliyahu (20 years old from Holon), and Neve Yair Asulin (21 years old from Karmit). May their memory be blessed.
