Insurgency in the North Gaza Strip

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Insurgency in the North Gaza Strip
Part of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present) and the Israel–Hamas war
North gaza insurgency.png
Reported military situation in March
Date7 January 2024 – present
Location
Northern Gaza Strip
Status Ongoing
Territorial
changes
Palestinian militants have control over most of: Gaza City, Jabalia and Beit Lahia
Belligerents

Palestinian Joint Operations Room


Coat of arms of Palestine (alternative).svg Palestinian Civil Police Force [1]
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
Commanders and leaders

Flag of Hamas.svg Yahya Sinwar
Flag of Hamas.svg Mohammed Deif
Flag of Hamas.svg Izz al Din al Haddad
Flag of Hamas.svg Ibrahim Biari [2]

Contents


Coat of arms of Palestine (alternative).svg Faiq Al-Mabhouh   [3]
Flag of Israel.svg Benjamin Netanyahu
Flag of Israel.svg Yoav Gallant
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Yair Palai  [ he ]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Yisrael Shomer  [ he ]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Ami Bitton  [ he ]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Liron Betiteo  [ he ]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Benny Aharon  [ he ]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Neri Horowitz  [ he ]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Ido Mizrahi  [ he ]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Sebastian Haion   [4]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Yitzhar Hofman   [5]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Eyal Shuminov   [6]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Lior Raviv   [7]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Matan Vinogradov   [8]
Units involved

Flag of Hamas.svg Al-Qassam Brigades
Black flag.svg Al-Quds Brigades
Flag of the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades.svg Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades
Red flag.svg Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades
Flag of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.svg National Resistance Brigades
Flag of Palestine.svg Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades

Flag of Jihad.svg Mujahideen brigades
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Israeli Defence Forces
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg 2 battalions (Zeitun operation)
Casualties and losses
Flag of Palestine.svg 20+ militants killed [9]
Coat of arms of Palestine (alternative).svg 1+ policemen killed
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg 24+ soldiers killed [10]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg 1 Namer APC destroyed
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg 1 Merkava tank damaged
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg 1 IDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozer destroyed

The Insurgency in the North Gaza Strip is an armed conflict centered in the North Gaza Governorate, around the besieged Gaza City after Israel announced it had dismantled 12 Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades battalions on 7 January. [11] [12] [13]

Several Palestinian militant groups, led by the Al-Qassam Brigades began resurging in territories formerly cleared, after 4 months of bombardment and 3 months of ground invasion.

Course of the insurgency

Palestinian brigades organised and consolidated areas that Israeli forces had withdrawn from, and rehabilitated civilian services such as police forces. [14]

The brigades launched offensives on areas in the northern Gaza Strip held by Israeli forces. As a result, Israeli troops moved into areas that they have previously withdrawn from. [15] A Namer APC repositioning in Sheikh Radwan on 19 January was ambushed by a militant with a dual attack, first by a Shawadh IED detonation succeeded by a Yasin-105 rocket-propelled grenade fired by a Al-Qassam Brigade militants. [16] Al-Qassam brigades ambushed Israeli forces in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood on 31 January, targeting two Merkava tanks, damaging one and an IDF Caterpillar D9. [17]

Israeli operations

Zeitoun operation

In late February, Israeli forces targeted the Zeitoun district in southwestern Gaza City with two brigades, announcing they were attacking paramilitaries in close quarters combat and with missile strikes.

The Israeli army acknowledged stiff resistance from paramilitaries in Zeitoun but not while Israeli vehicles advanced on the district, admitting casualties in three different engagements on penetrating forces on February 21. Fighting was mainly led by the Al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades, with minor support from smaller paramilitary groups. [18]

Al Shifa Hospital raid

Al-Shifa Hospital Raid
Date18 March 2024–1 April 2024
Location
Status Israel withdraws on 1 April after destroying most of the hospital [19]
Belligerents
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel

Flag of Hamas.svg  Hamas (Alleged)


Coat of arms of Palestine (alternative).svg Palestinian Civil Police Force
Commanders and leaders
Flag of Israel.svg Sebastian Haion  Flag of Hamas.svg Faiq Al-Mabhouh  (per IDF) [20]
Units involved
Flag of Hamas.svg  Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (On the outskirts)
Casualties and losses
2+ soldiers killed

On 17 March 2024, Israeli forces raided Rimal and occupied Al-Shifa hospital following supposed intel that senior Hamas officials had regrouped and were using the hospital "to command attacks". [21]

Second Zeitoun Operation

On May 9, Israel renewed operations in North Gaza, sending a force into the Zeitoun district which had faced a major battle months prior. The IDF has admitted that 4 soldiers were killed on the first day. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

This page is a partial listing of incidents of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2004.

In 2004, the Israeli Defense Forces launched Operation "Days of Penitence", otherwise known as Operation "Days of Repentance" in the northern Gaza Strip. The operation lasted between 29 September and 16 October 2004. About 130 Palestinians, and 1 Israeli were killed.

This page is a partial listing of incidents of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2008</span>

In 2008, Israel sought to halt the rocket and mortar fire from Gaza that killed four Israeli civilians that year and caused widespread trauma and disruption of life in Israeli towns and villages close to the Gaza border. In addition, Israel insisted that any deal include an end to Hamas's military buildup in Gaza, and movement toward the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit. Hamas wanted an end to the frequent Israeli military strikes and incursions into Gaza, and an easing of the economic blockade that Israel has imposed since Hamas took over the area in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaza War (2008–2009)</span> Armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip

The Gaza War, also known as Operation Cast Lead, also known as the Gaza Massacre, and referred to as the Battle of al-Furqan by Hamas, was a three-week armed conflict between Gaza Strip Palestinian paramilitary groups and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that began on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January 2009 with a unilateral ceasefire. The conflict resulted in 1,166–1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths. Over 46,000 homes were destroyed in Gaza, making more than 100,000 people homeless.

Incidents in the Gaza War include incidents involving attacks against civilians, a school, a mosque, and naval confrontations.

Al-Shifa Hospital was the largest medical complex and central hospital in the Gaza Strip, located in the neighborhood of northern Rimal in Gaza City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Shuja'iyya</span> Battle in the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict

The Battle of Shuja'iyya occurred between the Israel Defense Forces and the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades on 20 July 2014 during 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip. Shuja'iyya, with 92,000 people in 6 sq-kilometres, is one of the most densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, it had become a "terrorist fortress", that between 8 and 20 July had fired over 140 rockets into Israel after the outbreak of hostilities. Casualty figures are not known with precision, partly because bodies were recovered long after the fighting, and people had also died of injuries afterwards. The UN Protection Cluster states that between the 19-20th, 55 civilians, including 19 children and 14 women, were killed as a result of the IDF's actions. At the time, estimates varied from 66 to about 120 Palestinians killed, with a third of them women and children, and at least 288 wounded. The UN figures of Palestinian casualties are preliminary and subject to revision. 16 Israeli soldiers were killed.

Events in 2023 in the Palestinian territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present)</span> Israeli military operation

On 27 October 2023, Israel launched an invasion of the Gaza Strip with the stated goals to destroy Hamas, a military and political movement that led an attack on Israel earlier in the month, and to free hostages it took. The effort is ongoing. Before the invasion, dubbed Operation Swords of Iron, Israel declared war, tightened its blockade, and ordered the evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Gaza City</span> 2023 military engagement in the Gaza city

The siege of Gaza City began on 2 November 2023, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) surrounded Gaza City, amid the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, which was a counterattack to the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Gaza City is the most populated city in the Gaza Strip and the battle started on 30 October 2023, when Israel and Hamas clashed in Gaza City. According to Oxfam, there are about 500,000 Palestinians, along with 200 Israelis and other captives, currently trapped in a "siege within a siege" in northern Gaza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Shifa Hospital siege</span> 2023–2024 attack on and siege of a hospital in Gaza

Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, was placed under siege by Israel in mid-November 2023 during the Israel–Hamas war, after saying it had contained a Hamas command and control center beneath it. The incident was followed by a second major raid by Israeli forces in March 2024.

During the Israel–Hamas war, Israel and the United States stated that a vast complex existed under al-Shifa hospital that was being used by Hamas as its "main operations base", which Hamas and hospital administrators denied. Following Israel's release of video evidence on 22 November, multiple news agencies concluded that the evidence did not demonstrate the use by Hamas of a command center. The New York Times also said the evidence does not show conclusive evidence of a vast network of tunnels, while Haaretz concluded that Hamas did use the hospital for military purposes. Amnesty International said on 23 November 2023 that "Amnesty International has so far not seen any credible evidence to support Israel’s claim that al-Shifa is housing a military command centre" and that "the Israeli military has so far failed to provide credible evidence" for the allegation. Izzat al-Risheq, a Hamas official, denied that the group used the hospital as a shield for its underground military structures, saying there was no truth to the claims.

Yitzhar Hofman was an Israeli soldier who was a commander in the Israeli Air Force's elite Shaldag Unit.

During the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, Shuja'iyya was the last district in Gaza City that had not been subject to an Israeli ground invasion, and as a result many Palestinians who had not been able to evacuate south had sought refuge in the district. Despite this, the Israel Defense Forces had shelled and bombarded Shuja'iyya for weeks before invading on December 4. On the 26th of December, Israel withdrew from Shuja'iyya, announcing that the local Hamas battalion had been defeated. Despite this, militants continued to attack Israeli forces within the town until Israeli forces eventually withdrew.

The Battle of Hamad was a two–week Israeli military operation against Hamas forces in the town of Hamad in Gaza Strip.

Faiq Al-Mabhouh was a police officer and the head of the Hamas internal security forces and was killed during a raid on Al-Shifa hospital, with the IDF claiming 20 other Palestinian militants being killed as well.

References

  1. https://www.madamasr.com/en/2024/03/19/news/u/hamas-police-official-who-secured-aid-distribution-among-50-executed-in-shifa-hospital-raid/
  2. Abed, Esam; Rothwell, James; Shamalakh, Siham (8 December 2023). "After the bombs fell: How Israel's invasion of Gaza risks radicalising a new generation of Palestinians". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 16 January 2024. The IDF said Biari 'oversaw all military operations in the northern Gaza Strip since the IDF entered'
  3. https://www.madamasr.com/en/2024/03/19/news/u/hamas-police-official-who-secured-aid-distribution-among-50-executed-in-shifa-hospital-raid/
  4. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-commander-killed-in-raid-on-northern-gaza-hospital-army-says/3168555#:~:text=An%20Israeli%20military%20commander%20was,City%2C%20a%20military%20statement%20said.
  5. https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-commander-responsible-for-storming-al-shifa-hospital-killed-video-report/
  6. https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-says-numerous-gaza-gunmen-slain-in-weekend-fighting-company-commander-killed/
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  8. https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/swords-of-iron-idf-casualties#:~:text=Share%3A,have%20been%20killed%20in%20battle.&text=%2D%20Figures%20refer%20only%20to%20IDF%20personnel%20injured%20in%20combat.
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  14. Burke, Jason (30 January 2024). "Hamas regroups in northern Gaza to prepare new offensive". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  15. Barbakh, Arafat; Siu, Tyrone; Al-Mughrabi, Nidal (16 January 2024). "Gaza combat resurges as Israeli tanks storm back into areas they left". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
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  17. "alahed".
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