Second Battle of Shuja'iyya

Last updated

Battle of Shuja'iyya (2024)
Part of the siege of Gaza City during the Israel–Hamas war
Date27 June – 10 July 2024 [1]
(1 week and 5 days)
Location
Territorial
changes
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad retain presence in Shuja'iyya after Israeli withdrawal [2]
Belligerents
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg  Hamas
InfoboxPIJ.svg  Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Roy Miller  [3] Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg Ayman Showadeh 
Units involved

Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg  Israel Defense Forces

Flag of Palestine.svg Palestinian Joint Operations Room

Casualties and losses
Per Israel:
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg 5 soldiers killed [4] [5]
Per Hamas:
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg 4+ soldiers killed [6]
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Several APCs destroyed [7]
Per Israel:
Flag of Palestine.svg 150 fighters killed [1]
At least 3 medics killed and 12 wounded [4]
80,000 displaced [7]

The Second Battle of Shuja'iyya was a military battle between Israel and the Hamas-led Palestinian forces during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which ended in an Israeli withdrawal. [8] Fought from 27 June 2024 [9] to 10 July 2024, [8] it was the second engagement between the two sides in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City.

Contents

Background

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had begun an ongoing general siege of Gaza City on 2 November 2023 as part of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, itself a response to the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel which began the war. The first battle at Shuja'iyya began on 4 December 2023 and ended on 26 December 2023 with the IDF withdrawing after facing fierce Palestinian resistance [10] and failing to push out Hamas from the area. [11]

Israel claimed that it had dismantled Hamas in the region in December, but militants continued to attack Israeli forces and maintained a strong presence in the area. [1] This resulted in Israel attacking Shuja'iyya once again in late June. [12]

Battle

The IDF began a second invasion of Shuja'iyya on 27 June 2024 with a combined tank and drone assault, ordering Palestinian civilians to go south. [9] These operations were led by the 98th Paratroopers Division [12] with medics and witnesses saying the assault had caused numerous casualties. [4] Israeli bombing of the neighbourhood resulted in widespread destruction, causing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee the attack, while the UN estimated that up to 80,000 Palestinians were displaced from the area. [13]

Hamas and its ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad responded to the invasion with guerilla attacks, artillery fire, and sniper attacks on IDF positions. [9] [11] [14] On 4 July, in operations conducted by Palestinian militants in the city, an Israeli officer was killed while three others were seriously injured.

On 12 July, it was reported that the IDF had managed to kill the deputy head of the Hamas battalion in Shuja'iyya, Ayman Showadeh, who was involved in leading the October 2023 attack on Israel. [15] [16]

The Israeli army stated that it had destroyed 8 tunnels during the battle, [1] and on 10 July, Israel retreated from the neighbourhood, while Palestinian militants retained their positions. [2]

Aftermath

Families among the tens of thousands displaced by Israeli actions in Shuja'iyya began to return following the end of the battle but reported widespread destruction and that nearly every building in the neighbourhood had been destroyed. [7] Gazan officials working for the native government in Gaza returned to the neighbourhood immediately following the Israeli withdrawal and found more than 60 bodies. [7] [17] It was reported that the neighborhood had "become a disaster area that is not suitable for habitat", with 85% of the residential buildings there destroyed by the IDF. [8]

One family reported that the IDF had raided their Shuja'iyya home on July 3 and attacked their family member, Muhammed Bhar, with a combat dog. According to the family, the IDF promised to treat Bhar, who had Down Syndrome, and ordered the rest of the family to leave at gunpoint. After the IDF withdrawal, the family said that they returned to find Bhar dead on the floor. [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shuja'iyya</span> Neighborhood in Gaza, Gaza Governorate, Palestine

Shuja'iyya, also Shejaiya, Shijaiyeh, Shujayya, Shuja'ia, Shuja'iya, is the southern quarter of Old City of Gaza, and the only quarter of the Old City located outside the historical city walls. It is one of the largest neighborhoods in Gaza, once holding 92,000 to 100,000 residents. It is located east of Gaza's city center, and its nucleus is situated on a hill located across the main Salah al-Din Road that runs north–south throughout the Gaza Strip. Shuja'iyya contains several ancient structures, mosques and tombs. The Commonwealth War Cemetery is located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the commercial center of the neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Gaza War</span> Military offensive in the Gaza strip

In November 2012, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Pillar of Defense, which was an eight-day campaign in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip, beginning on 14 November 2012 with the killing of Ahmed Jabari, chief of the Gaza military wing of Hamas, by an Israeli airstrike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Gaza War</span> Armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants

The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge, and Battle of the Withered Grain, was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since 2007. Following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank by Hamas-affiliated Palestinian militants, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initiated Operation Brother's Keeper, in which it killed 10 Palestinians, injured 130 and imprisoned more than 600. Hamas reportedly did not retaliate but resumed rocket attacks on Israel more than two weeks later, following the killing of one of its militants by an Israeli airstrike on 29 June. This escalation triggered a seven-week-long conflict between the two sides, one of the deadliest outbreaks of open conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in decades. The war resulted in over two thousand deaths, the vast majority of which were Gazan Palestinians. This includes a total of six Israeli civilians who were killed as a result of the conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Shuja'iyya (2014)</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.

The following is a timeline of the 2014 Gaza War. Over 2014, Palestinians suffered the highest number of civilian casualties since the Six-Day War in 1967, according to a United Nations report, given the July–August conflict, and rising tolls in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A spike in Israeli casualties also occurred. 2,256 Palestinians and 85 Israelis died, while 17,125 Palestinians, and 2,639 Israelis suffered injuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">November 2018 Gaza–Israel clashes</span> Botched Israeli covert operation and firefight in the Gaza Strip

Gaza-Israel clashes began on 11 November 2018, when a botched Israeli covert operation carried out in the Khan Yunis area of the southern Gaza Strip killed seven Palestinian militants and one Israeli soldier. Exchanges of fire lasted for two more days, until a cease fire was achieved with Egyptian mediation. Some minor incidents and protests followed some two weeks after the cease fire, with decreasing intensity.

The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel–Hamas war</span> Ongoing armed conflict in the Middle East

An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place in the Gaza Strip and Israel since 7 October 2023. It is the fifth war of the Gaza–Israel conflict since 2008, and the most significant military engagement in the region since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. It is the deadliest war for Palestinians in the history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and has sparked an ongoing Middle Eastern crisis.

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

The Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip is a major part of the Israel–Hamas war. Starting on 7 October 2023, immediately after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, it began bombing the Gaza Strip; on 13 October, Israel began ground operations in Gaza, and on 27 October, a full-scale invasion was launched. Israel's campaign has four stated goals: to destroy Hamas, to free the hostages, to ensure Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, and to return displaced residents of Northern Israel. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli operation began, including more than 7,800 children and 4,900 women, with another 10,000 people missing and presumed dead under the rubble of destroyed buildings.

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, were trapped in a "siege within a siege" in northern Gaza.

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

The battle of Khan Yunis, which evolved into the siege of Khan Yunis in late January 2024, began on 1 December 2023 in the midst of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Wissam Abu Hussein Farhat was a Head of Hamas's Shejaiya Battalion. He was the mastermind behind various attacks such as the Atzmona Massacre, the Nahal Oz attack and more.

Events in the year 2024 in Palestine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafah offensive</span> 2024 Israeli offensive along the Egypt–Gaza border

On 6 May 2024, Israel began a military offensive in and around the city of Rafah as part of its invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in the North Gaza Strip</span> 2024 armed conflict in Palestine

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.

The Battle of Shuja'iyya was a military engagement of the ongoing Israel-Hamas War between the Israeli Defense Forces of Israel and Hamas. The latter's allies, namely the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also took part in the fighting. 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 targets in 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Mohammad Bhar</span> Killing of mentally disabled Palestinian man by Israeli forces

Mohammad Bhar was a 24-year-old Palestinian man with Down syndrome and autism who died after being mauled by an Israeli Oketz military dog in a Gaza Strip house during the Israel–Hamas war.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Fabian, Emanuel (July 10, 2024). "IDF wraps up raid in Gaza City's Shejaiya neighborhood, says it killed more than 150 gunmen". The Times of Israel . Archived from the original on July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  2. 1 2 ""نتزين ونتعطر قبل لقاء العدو".. مشاهد جديدة للقسام بمعارك الشجاعية". Al Jazeera (in Arabic). Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  3. "IDF announces death of Captain Roy Miller, killed fighting in northern Gaza". i24News. July 4, 2024. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 The New Arab Staff & Agencies (June 28, 2024). "Gaza City's Shejaiya neighbourhood comes under Israeli siege, Lebanon clashes intensify". The New Arab . Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  5. "IDF announces death of Staff Sgt. Eyal Mimran, 20, killed in Gaza City fighting earlier today | The Times of Israel". The Times of Israel . Archived from the original on July 4, 2024. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  6. "Battles rage in north Gaza as Palestinian fighters ambush Israeli troops". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on July 4, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "'We have nothing': Gazans return to Shejaiya after IDF wraps up two-week raid". The Times of Israel . July 12, 2024. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 "Over 60 bodies retrieved from under rubble in Shujaiya in Gaza City after Israel raid". Middle East Monitor. July 11, 2024. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Timsit, Annabelle; Fahim, Kareem (June 27, 2024). "Gazans flee homes ahead of new Israeli operation in northern neighborhood" . The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  10. ""مربعات سكنية مدمرة بالكامل".. صور ترصد حجم الخراب في حي الشجاعية بعد انسحاب القوات الإسرائيلية (فيديو)". Al Jazeera (in Arabic). Archived from the original on April 7, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  11. 1 2 Malsin, Jared; Peled, Anat; AbdulKarim, Fatima (July 1, 2024). "Gaza Militants Regroup and Rearm, Raising Threat of a Long War". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  12. 1 2 Frantzman, Seth (July 9, 2024). "IDF uncovers 6 tunnels in Gaza's Shejaiya neighborhood; Hezbollah rockets kill 2 Israelis in the north". Long War Journal . Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  13. "Fighting for third day in Gaza's north leaves thousands displaced". Dawn . June 30, 2024. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  14. MENAFN. "Hamas' Armed Wing Claims Killings Of Israeli Soldiers In Gaza". menafn.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  15. Baruch, Uzi (July 12, 2024). "IDF and Shin Bet eliminate deputy head of Shejaiya Batallion in Gaza". www.israelnationalnews.com. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  16. "IAF strike kills Ayman Showadeh, Hamas's Shejaia Battalion deputy commander". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. July 12, 2024. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  17. "Gaza war: 60 bodies recovered in Shujayea after Israeli ground assault". YouTube. Al Jazeera English. July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  18. Keane, Fergal (July 16, 2024). "Gaza man with Down's syndrome attacked by IDF dog and left to die, mother says". BBC. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  19. Hussaini, Maha (July 12, 2024). "Palestinian with Down syndrome 'left to die' by Israeli soldiers after combat dog attack". Middle East Eye. Retrieved July 16, 2024.