In the video: Documentation from Khan Yunis: A dog stings a terrorist site, Magellan fighters eliminate him/Photo: Doch
The fighting in Khan Yunis takes place mainly above ground, as hiding places for senior Hamas officials are running out.
The IDF is working to repair the fence, but receives criticism that the work is being done without learning from past mishaps. The last remaining large area is Rafah, where IDF sources say that a raid is a move bound by reality.
"It will happen and all that remains to be decided is the method and strengths."
At this stage, the IDF's efforts from the ground and from the air in the Gaza Strip take into account the thinning of the reserve forces that were released and the regular forces that went on vacations and training, and some of them changed their operations, to Judea and Samaria, the border of Syria and Lebanon, as well as the considerations of the political and intelligence echelons
. The War Cabinet and the top brass of the IDF believe that maneuvering on the ground and putting pressure on Hamas from the air will speed up negotiations for the release of hostages and lead to a more effective process.
Taking into account the thinning of the reserve forces.
IDF forces in the Gaza Strip/IDF spokesman
Khan Yunis
Most of the attention is attracted at this stage by Khan Yunis.
The 98th Division under the command of Brigadier General Dan Goldfuss is still conducting an engineering effort underground, not only to locate strategic infrastructures where senior officials of the political and military branches can hide or where the kidnapped are held, but also to map them, purify and destroy them.
At the same time, stubborn fighting is going on in Khan Yunis Above the ground, in areas where there is a high concentration of terrorists hiding behind civilians, such as the Nasar hospital. "Every day that passes, Hamas leaders have fewer places to hide, above the ground and especially below the ground," a senior IDF officer told Walla! "At the end They will have to go up and have to make a decision between surrender or thwarting."
The IDF now estimates that the 98th Division is close to announcing the breaking of all the Hamas battalions in Khan Yunis and removing them from operational-framework dysfunction.
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"With every day that passes, Hamas officials have fewer places to hide."
Khan Yunis/IDF spokesman
Center camps
The IDF mainly attacks from the air the refugee camps Nuseirat, al Buraig, Ma'aji, and Deir al Balah. A decision has not yet been made whether to carry out a tree maneuver inside them, this is because of the high density and exhaustion of most of the concentration of the forces of the military arm of Hamas and Islamic Jihad inside them. It is very possible that during the waiting phase for the possibility of a maneuver to Rafah, IDF forces will be required to destroy infrastructure in the heart of the center camps.
IDF soldiers in the Ma'azi refugee camp/IDF spokesperson
The border of the Gaza Strip and the buffer zone
Over the past few months, IDF forces have been working to restore the fence that was damaged on October 7 in dozens of locations. Restoration, renovation and rebuilding of IDF camps and outposts.
Building a buffer space about a kilometer from the fence while removing Hamas infrastructure, civilian homes that were used for terrorist activity and placing security elements that will improve the defense.
Already at this stage, there is criticism within the Gaza Division of the difference between the uncompromising instructions to open fire, led by the Southern Brigade Col. Tal Ashur, and the unclear instructions of the Northern Brigade, which are defined by some commanders as "hesitant and allow the terrorists to reach the range short".
Gaza Strip fence on October 7/Flash 90, Abed Rahim Khatib
"In recent days, Hamas terrorists have been coming to the area of the first line of houses to remove solar panels from the ruins that they will use to establish new outposts," they told Walla!
Eyewitnesses from the field, "They don't have diesel or generators, so it's an expensive product."
Another criticism heard from the field is that the IDF rushed to restore and renovate the fence, without thinking about a new concept that would upgrade the level of preparedness for similar attacks in the future by terrorist squads and more. We will see what can be improved or rebuilt. There will be resources and money for everything."
The Gaza fence on October 7/Flash 90, Abed Rahim Hativ - Flash 90
The dismemberment effort and the "drains"
The IDF forces are operating in the field to prevent the passage of Palestinians from north to south and mainly the other way around in order to hold the northern territories of the Gaza Strip and Gaza City as an isolated area, this according to the clear instructions of the Minister of Defense Yoav Galant. The Minister of Defense also instructed to act to move the population from areas in the center of the Gaza Strip to allow fighting without civilians.
In the issue of the "drainages" there has been a significant improvement in the method, the technological means, and the elements of protection for the forces in the field, including engineering activity that enables the inspection of Palestinians and the detection of terrorists among them, and criticism is still heard, "we must take into account the day after which there will be enough time for terrorists to attack the areas The 'drains' and therefore in some cases it is necessary to establish a Palestinian crossing without human contact.
To protect the IDF soldiers," a military official said.
Palestinians evacuate to the south of the Gaza Strip/TPS
The last and largest space: Rafah
At this stage, the IDF is attacking terrorist targets in Rafah from the air and, in exceptional cases, from the ground as well. In the background, there is an extraordinary process of putting together operational plans for maneuvering wooded areas to dismantle Rafah battalions, some of which may be responsible for holding hostages, hiding senior Hamas officials, but also smuggling weapons from Sinai to the Gaza Strip.
Air Force strikes in Rafah/Reuters
The political echelon has not yet decided on a date, but sources in the IDF say that "this is a move forced by reality.
It will happen and all that remains to be decided is the method and the forces." Alongside this, the director of the IDF's Coordination and Liaison Command in the Gaza Strip, Col. Moshe Tetro, is making a great effort to move the population to the "shelter" areas even these days.
At the same time, Col. Tetro is planning With his men and elements of the Southern Command, AMN and the Shin Bet, a very large evacuation program from Rafah and within Rafah to enable the wooded ground maneuver.
A security source said in a message that "the planning is in its advanced stage. There is an operational logic behind every action that the echelon directs. The IDF knows how to operate even in population concentrations."
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Gaza Strip
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