The Israel Defense Forces returned to fight Hamas in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Jabaliya in October. The fight has gone on for several weeks.
It appears that much of the work of dismantling Hamas in the area has been completed. However, this is the third time the IDF operated in Jabaliya since the beginning of the war.
What does this month-long operation tell us about Hamas and the war in Gaza?
First, a few details.
Reports on November 3 indicate that the IDF assesses that it has eliminated around 900 terrorists in this northern Gaza neighborhood.
Jabaliya sits on some sprawling, low-lying hills between Gaza City, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya.
It is also home to a historic refugee camp from the 1950s and several hospitals, such as Kamal Adwan and the Indonesian hospital.
The fact that 900 terrorists were killed in fighting in Jabaliya reflects the fact Hamas had a large number of fighters in this area.
Did the Hamas members return to the area after previous IDF operations here in December and January or in May 2024?
Pervious IDF operations
When the IDF operated there in May, it sent the 98th Division into the neighborhood for three weeks.
The division of paratroopers, commandos backed by the 7th Armored, found the bodies of seven dead hostages and killed hundreds of terrorists. That was the second battle for Jabaliya.
The first battle was in December. The 162nd Division, the same one that went into Jabaliya in October 2024, went into this area in December 2023.At the time, The Jerusalem Post reported that “IDF Division 162 has finished completely dismantling Hamas’s three battalions of terror forces in the Jabalya area of northern Gaza, killing over 1,000 of Hamas’s forces and arresting 500 terrorists.
Additionally, 3,000 non-combatant individuals associated with Hamas have been arrested.
Over 70 of those detained directly participated in the October 7 massacre in southern Israel.”
When the IDF first faced off against Hamas in this area, there were thought to be three Hamas battalions in the area, and they had divided it into sectors.If they were defeated, it begs the question: who are the 900 terrorists recently eliminated?
Did they constitute a new Hamas battalion recruited recently, or are they remnants of the three, or is there more to the story?
What is clear is that the assessments in December 2023 that half of the Hamas battalions in Gaza had been defeated may have been over-optimistic.
When the war began, it was believed Hamas had 24 battalions.
Half of them were in northern Gaza, and they were believed to have been defeated in the first months of the war.
After the IDF’s ground operation in the north in October and November 2023, the IDF began to shift focus toward Khan Younis and then, in May, toward Rafah.
In Rafah, the IDF also eliminated 900 terrorists between early May and mid-July. This is about the same number of terrorists found in Jabaliya in October.What this appears to tell us is that Hamas was able to return to Jabaliya and build up a force as large as the one in Rafah.
That should be concerning because it shows how Hamas continues to regrow its tentacles. If Hamas has done this in Jabliya, then Hamas clearly has command and control and significant forces in the central camps area of Gaza.
This includes Nuseirat, el Bureij, Maghazi, and Deir al-Balah. These areas all have old refugee camps to recruit from, like Jabaliya. Most of them were never cleared of terrorists.
This means that there are major questions about whether Hamas has been defeated in Gaza and become a guerilla group, as opposed to an organized battalion-based fighting force.
In September, reports said Hamas was largely defeated in Gaza. These reports coincided with shifting IDF forces to the north to fight Hezbollah.
Key units, such as the 98th Division, were sent north. The 162nd Division moved from Rafah to fight in Jabaliya in October.
The battle in Jabaliya has been tough going. IDF soldiers have been killed and wounded.“Jabaliya was considered a Hamas stronghold in the northern part of the Strip, and many of the terrorists returned there after the IDF withdrew its forces earlier in the year.
The forces said they found the entrance to the city laced with explosives that caused casualties to the troops but said they were less sophisticated than in other areas,” YNet noted.
Now, it is believed Hamas has once again been cleared from this key urban area. Many civilians have fled south as they were instructed to.
Other areas, such as Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, have apparently also been cleared of terrorists.
What about the rest of Gaza?
This leads to questions about the rest of northern Gaza, such as Shati, Rimal, Daraj, and Tuffah, all areas around Gaza City.
Jabaliya could be a lesson for future efforts against Hamas. Hamas always seeks to return.It wants to return to Khan Younis and Rafah. It has roots in northern Gaza that have been fully pulled out of the ground.
The battle in Jabaliya also shows how difficult it will be to replace Hamas. Who will govern civilian areas when Hamas is removed?
The civilians generally are asked to flee to areas such as Mawasi in Gaza, where Hamas effectively has control. Aid is stolen by Hamas.
Jabaliya is both a lesson and a cautionary tale. It is cautionary because it shows how difficult it is to get rid of Hamas.
It shows how the raiding tactic hasn’t replaced Hamas governance.
It shows how Hamas digs in, recruits, and exploits civilians and hospitals, as well as schools, for cover.
