The IDF, on Sunday, and also over the last week, initiated a large operation to try to consolidate control over Khan Yunis in southern Gaza and Zeitoun in northeastern Gaza.
Northern Gaza was said to be under IDF operational control already in early January (parts were in control in mid-November), and southern Gaza, other than Rafah, was said to be under IDF operational control in early February.
Despite those earlier developments, the IDF decided that too many Hamas forces had partially reconstituted themselves in the intervening time period, and a series of larger organized and robust operations was needed to break the terror group’s organization again.
That said, IDF sources said that in Zeitoun it was much easier to defeat the Hamas forces than it had been in late 2023, and required only a brigade level force, versus the multiple divisions required earlier.
The timing of the parallel operations also came as Israel was trying to pressure Hamas into a second hostage exchange deal, though IDF sources protested that there was no direct connection to the negotiations.
In Zeitoun, over 100 terrorists were killed, while significant numbers of terrorists were also killed in Khan Yunis, and around 30 in central Gaza fighting.
Operations in Khan Yunis
In Khan Yunis, the air force and the artillery units struck around 50 targets in a mere six minutes.
Unlike Zeitoun, which only required a brigade, Khan Yunis still required a division, and this was the first full division 98-level operation in weeks.
Recent weeks had seen smaller IDF forces engaging in Khan Yunis in lower key cleaning up operations of remaining pieces of what had once been larger Hamas terror cells, which had already been broken at the battalion level.
Brigade 401 Commander IDF Col. Beni Aharon said that although Hamas had managed to return since January in northern Gaza partially, it would be much harder for the terror group to do so again after this week’s operation.
He explained that during this week’s Zeitoun operation, the IDF had destroyed much more of the remaining tunnel network, which Hamas terrorists had used to flee in late 2023.
IDF strikes on terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. March 3, 2024. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
In addition, he said that the IDF had eliminated even smaller rocket firing platforms, armaments manufacturing areas, and communication areas, which it had passed by in the initial invasion when the focus was only on larger Hamas bases.
Likewise, in Khan Yunis, the IDF used its aerial and artillery advantages to soften up the partially reconstituted Hamas forces for a thrust by the full force of Division 98.
Among the series of targets struck by the IAF and IDF artillery were subterranean structures, military infrastructure, anti-tank missile launch posts, structures rigged with traps, and the operational meeting points of terrorists in the area.
Like in northern Gaza, the initial invasion of Khan Yunis was more focused on larger-scale Hamas bases and had not yet had time to root out many smaller bases.
IDF sources suggested that each time they hit Hamas with another wave, whether in northern or southern Gaza, it would become easier for Israeli forces to return and restore order anytime Hamas attempted to reconstitute any more systematic point of resistance.
However, IDF sources recognized that this might not be the last such return to undertaking a clean-up operation of Hamas.
In fact, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other top defense officials have talked about having to put down a three to 12 month insurgency, starting from around January – meaning that some occasional large scale fighting may happen periodically throughout 2024.
It was unclear how a 40-45 day ceasefire which Israel may agree to would impact this schedule, especially if the ceasefire is extended, and also with the IDF still not having dealt with two Hamas battalions in central Gaza and four in Rafah.
IDF sources said that 1,000 Palestinian civilians were evacuated from Zeitoun during the fighting.
An estimated 150,000-300,000 Palestinians remain in northern Gaza out of the original approximately 1.2 million, most of whom evacuated to the South.
Aharon’s brigade was made of around three-and-a-half Israeli battalions.