The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced that it has surrounded the town of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip in a new ground operation. The purpose of the operation is to prevent the reestablishment of positions of Hamas militants in the area. About this informs Times of Israel.
The Israeli military began the operation at night after receiving intelligence on the location of Hamas militants and infrastructure facilities. This was followed by airstrikes and artillery attacks on targets, including weapons depots, tunnels and militant cells. The IDF emphasized that the operation would last as long as necessary to systematically destroy Hamas infrastructure in the area.
This is the fourth offensive of Israeli troops on Jabalia since the beginning of the war a year ago.
Against the background of the expansion of the ground operation, Israel also announced preparations for the evacuation of the civilian population from the northern part of Gaza. It is planned to increase the area of the humanitarian zone in the south of the Gaza Strip, where most of the humanitarian aid is currently sent and field hospitals are located.
According to some estimates, around 200,000 Palestinians still remain in northern Gaza, despite calls by the IDF to evacuate south at the start of the war.
The latest military action also comes as Israel prepares for possible attacks by Hamas on the anniversary of the terror group’s attack in southern Israel on October 7 last year.
