Israel’s military said on Wednesday its forces were escalating military operations in northern Gaza areas where they recently returned, raising concerns about the country’s long-term strategy as it tries to trying to suppress a new Hamas uprising there.
According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 Palestinians have fled areas of northern Gaza since Israel ordered mass evacuations on Saturday. Israeli forces have repeatedly had to go back swept through areas in the north in a seven-month war with Hamas, failing to definitively end the armed militants’ presence there.
According to the Israeli army and Palestinian people, Israeli forces are entering the Jabaliya refugee camp. The camp is an urban area built largely inhabited by Palestinians who were displaced during the wars surrounding the creation of Israel in 1948, as well as their descendants.
Raafat Nasr, a resident of downtown Jabaliya, said Israeli forces were entering the neighborhood under intense airstrikes and shelling. Hamas’s armed wing said on the social messaging app Telegram that its fighters were fighting Israeli troops in the Jabaliya refugee camp, shooting at soldiers and armored vehicles.
Mr. Nasr, 50, decided to stay at his home with his wife and two children amid the “terrifying explosions,” he said. His family is scattered: His two children, along with his grandchildren, are trying to flee Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, in the face of another Israeli attack.
“Nowhere in Gaza is safe and we have nowhere to go,” Mr. Nasr said, adding that his family was packing up and rationing what little food and water they had left. again.
Israeli forces concluded a separate operation in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City on Wednesday, the Israeli military said. According to military statistics, at least 5 soldiers were killed in that attack.
The military’s return to areas such as Jabaliya and Zeitoun has raised concerns that the country is mired in a protracted conflict in Gaza without any exit strategy. Former Israeli officials argue that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of completely overthrowing Hamas rule in Gaza is unrealistic if his government does not offer any alternative to the Palestinian armed group. to manage the territory.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu sought to deflect criticism, saying “nothing can replace military victory” over Hamas. “Discussions about ‘the day after tomorrow’ as long as Hamas still exists are nothing but empty talk,” he said in a statement.
Anas al-Tayeb, another Jabaliya resident, fled with his family on Saturday morning, hours after receiving the evacuation order. Reached by phone in Gaza City, Mr. al-Tayeb said he could still hear the explosions and feared for his home, which had remained largely undamaged since the start of the war.
The new fighting in northern Gaza comes after several weeks in which wartime tensions have subsided in the area, al-Tayeb said. Food prices fell sharply as more aid arrived, easing fears of widespread famine, he recalled, while air strikes became less frequent.
“After we got a little bit of stability — it felt like we were going back to square one, with the same terror, anxiety and mental pressure,” Mr. al-Tayeb said.
