Insurgency in the northern Gaza Strip

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Insurgency in the northern Gaza Strip
Part of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in the Israel–Hamas war
North gaza insurgency.png
Reported military situation in March 2024
Date7 January 2024 – 19 January 2025
(1 year, 3 weeks and 3 days)
Location
North Gaza Governorate and Gaza Governorate, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Result Ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from northern Gaza, Israel fails to remove Hamas from power [1]
Belligerents

Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg Hamas
Black flag.svg Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Flag of the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades.svg Popular Resistance Committees
Hand drawn PFLP logo.jpg Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Flag of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.svg Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Simplified Fatah flag.jpg al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
Flag of Jihad.svg Palestinian Mujahideen Movement

Coat of arms of Palestine (alternative).svg Palestinian Civil Police Force [2] 		Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
Commanders and leaders

Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg Yahya Sinwar   †
Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg Mohammed Deif   †
Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg Izz al Din al Haddad

Coat of arms of Palestine (alternative).svg Faiq Al-Mabhouh   † [2] 		Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Benjamin Netanyahu
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Yoav Gallant
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Yair Palai  [ he ]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Yisrael Shomer
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   † [3]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Yitzhar Hofman   † [4]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Eyal Shuminov   † [5]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Lior Raviv   † [6]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Matan Vinogradov   † [6]
Units involved

Palestinian Joint Operations Room

Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Israeli Defence Forces

Casualties and losses
Flag of Palestine.svg 20+ militants killed (in early stages, per IDF) [14]
Coat of arms of Palestine (alternative).svg 1+ policemen killed		 Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg 31+ soldiers killed [6] [8] [13] [9] [12]
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 northern Gaza Strip was an armed conflict centered in the North Gaza Governorate, beginning after Israel announced it had dismantled 12 Al-Qassam Brigades battalions on 7 January 2024, as part of the Israel–Hamas war. [15] [16] [17]

Several Palestinian militant groups, led by Hamas, began resurging in territories formerly cleared by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), 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. [18]

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. [19] 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. [20] 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. [21]

On 13 May 2024, fighting was reported in Jabalia refugee camp. The armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed that their militants are targeting nearby IDF forces with mortars, anti-tank missiles, and machine guns. [22]

According to the BBC, unnamed senior Israeli military figures told Israeli media that Hamas's resurgence in northern Gaza was due to a lack of a specific plan from Israel's government for the "day after" the war. [22] In January 2024, Channel 13 News said that IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi warned Israeli leadership in private that their military gains could be eroded without a plan for the post-war management in Gaza. [23]

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. [24]

Al Shifa Hospital raid

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". [25] Two patients on life support at the intensive care unit in the same building had died because the electricity supply was cut ahead of the raid. [25]

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. [26]

Jabalia operation

On 12 May 2024, the IDF said that it launched an operation in Jabalia the previous evening "based on intelligence information regarding attempts by Hamas to reassemble its terrorist infrastructure and operatives in the area". According to residents fleeing the area, tanks were seen advancing towards the refugee camp, which was heavily bombarded. [22]

Siege of Beit Hanoun

In Beit Hanoun, the IDF conducted bombings on the night of 11–12 November 2024 and targeted fleeing civilians with drones and sniper fire the next day. [27] The IDF besieged some 130 families in a shelter in the city and forced them to leave at gunpoint. [28]

Despite claiming to have “dismantled Hamas” in Beit Hanoun, Israeli forces who entered the abandoned city on 23 December were immediately ambushed by militants. The IDF acknowledged and incident where a combat vehicle in Beit Hanoun was targeted by anti-tank weapons, eliminating three soldiers. [29]

On 28 December, Israeli forces previously in Rafah were redeployed to begin operating in Beit Hanoun. [30] [31] In another ambush whose details the IDF did not publicise, it acknowledged that three soldiers in Beit Hanoun were wounded and a West Bank settler in the IDF was eliminated. [32]

On 4 January 2025, the IDF destroyed a major Hamas complex in Beit Hanoun. [33]

An IDF company commander and his deputy were killed in Beit Hanoun after Hamas militants fired an anti-tank missile at their vehicle on 6 January, and a further three Israeli soldiers were killed when Hamas detonated an IED under their vehicle and three more were seriously wounded on the 8th. [34]

On 11 January, an Israeli patrol fell into an ambush in Beit Hanoun. A Merkava was hit by an IED explosion, killing all four of its occupants. The remaining soldiers were then attacked by Hamas militants who opened fire on them before withdrawing, wounding a further six. [35]

Outcome

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on 19 January 2025, with the IDF withdrawing from the North Gaza Governorate to a buffer zone along the Gaza Strip–Israel border on that same day. [36]

See also

Notes

    Related Research Articles

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of North Gaza</span> 2024 engagement in the Gaza Strip

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    References

    1. ↑ "After 15 months of war, Hamas still rules over what remains of Gaza". AP News. 20 January 2025. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
    2. 1 2 "Hamas police official who secured aid distribution among 50 executed in Shifa Hospital raid". MadaMasr. 19 March 2024.
    3. ↑ "Israeli commander killed in raid on northern Gaza hospital, army says".
    4. ↑ "Israeli Commander Responsible for Storming Al-Shifa Hospital Killed - VIDEO & REPORT". 17 March 2024.
    5. ↑ "IDF says numerous Gaza gunmen slain in weekend fighting; company commander killed". The Times of Israel.
    6. 1 2 3 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.
    7. ↑ "Israeli soldier seriously wounded in north Gaza fighting".
    8. 1 2 "Israeli soldier killed during fighting in Gaza: Army".
    9. 1 2 "Two Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip". Al Jazeera. 29 June 2024.
    10. 1 2 Fabian, Emanuel. "IDF announces deaths of three soldiers killed fighting in northern Gaza earlier today". timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
    11. ↑ "Israeli soldier succumbs to injuries received in northern Gaza: Israeli military".
    12. 1 2 "2 IDF officers killed in northern Gaza, as dozens of terror targets razed in Shejaiya". The Times of Israel. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
    13. 1 2 "Two reservists killed in north Gaza, as soldiers slain in Rafah blast named". The Times of Israel. 16 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
    14. ↑ Mills, Peter; Javeri, Ashka; Ganzeveld, Annika; Tyson, Kathryn; Carl, Nicholas (22 February 2024). "Iran Update, February 22, 2024". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
    15. ↑ Jhaveri, Ashka; Soltani, Amin; Moore, Johanna; Tyson, Kathryn; Braverman, Alexandra; Carl, Nicholas (7 January 2024). "Iran Update, January 7, 2024". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
    16. ↑ Clarke, Colin P. (5 February 2024). "The Counterinsurgency Trap in Gaza". Foreign Affairs. 103 (2). Council on Foreign Relations. ISSN   2327-7793. OCLC   863038729 . Retrieved 22 March 2024.
    17. ↑ Rasgon, Adam; Boxerman, Aaron (23 February 2024). "As Gaza War Grinds On, Israel Prepares for a Prolonged Conflict". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
    18. ↑ Burke, Jason (30 January 2024). "Hamas regroups in northern Gaza to prepare new offensive". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
    19. ↑ 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.
    20. ↑ "استهداف آليات الاحتلال في الشيخ رضوان" [Targeting occupation mechanisms in Sheikh Radwan]. risala (in Arabic). 17 January 2024.
    21. ↑ "alahed".
    22. 1 2 3 Gritten, David (13 May 2024). "Gaza war: Palestinians flee as Israeli forces go back into Jabalia". BBC. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
    23. ↑ "Hamas moves to reassert power in Gaza City areas from which Israeli forces withdrew". The Times of Israel. 3 February 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
    24. ↑ Parry, Andie; Soltani, Amin; Moore, Johanna; Braverman, Alexandra; Tyson, Kathryn; Arman, Ahmad Omid; McGill, Anne; Fitzpatrick, Kitaneh; Carter, Brian (21 February 2024). "Iran update, February 21, 2024". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
    25. 1 2 Gunter, Joel; Gritten, David (18 March 2024). "Israel launches night raid on Gaza al-Shifa hospital". BBC News. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
    26. ↑ "Israeli Palestinian conflict mental health impact". The times of Israel. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
    27. ↑ "Dozens killed, others displaced as Israel continues attacks on Gaza". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
    28. ↑ "Hundreds forced to flee Beit Hanoun amid Israeli onslaught in northern Gaza". Anadolu Ajansı. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
    29. ↑ "IDF soldier killed, 3 others seriously hurt amid fighting in northern Gaza". TOI. 28 December 2024.
    30. ↑
    31. ↑ "IDF's Nahal Brigade concludes in Rafah, begins Beit Hanoun operations". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 28 December 2024. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
    32. ↑ "Three soldiers killed fighting in northern Gaza, airstrike hits Hamas security chief". TOI. 28 December 2024.
    33. ↑ "Iran Update, January 4, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
    34. ↑ Fabian, Emanuel. "3 soldiers killed in northern Gaza fighting, raising ground offensive toll to 398". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
    35. ↑ "4 IDFs soldier killed others seriously hurt amid fighting in northern Gaza". TOI. 11 January 2025.
    36. ↑ "Iran Update, January 19, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
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