The Israeli army announced today, Friday, that it is conducting operations under air cover in northern Gaza, resulting in the deaths of "dozens" of militants in the Shujaiya neighborhood, which was previously declared free of Hamas fighters. Eyewitnesses and paramedics reported that the Shujaiya operation, which began on Thursday, led to numerous casualties. The renewed fighting in northern Gaza follows statements made on Sunday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who indicated that the intensity of the "intensive phase" of the Israeli assault on Gaza has decreased after nearly nine months.
Military expert Omar Dostri from the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security expects the army to reduce its ground presence and increase its reliance on drones and fighter jets "to continue dismantling Hamas." The Israeli army stated that on Thursday night, soldiers began "conducting targeted operations" in the Shujaiya area as part of a larger operation that started earlier that day. Intelligence information indicated the "presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the Shujaiya area," as reported by the army when revealing initial details of the operation.
As troops advanced, warplanes bombed dozens of Hamas targets, according to the army, following other "significant" strikes that resulted in the deaths of "dozens" of militants in the north. The Israeli army spokesperson in Arabic, Avichai Adraee, called on Shujaiya residents via "X" on Thursday to evacuate immediately "for your safety," urging them to head to the humanitarian area located about 25 kilometers away. Hamas confirmed the beginning of an Israeli "ground operation" in Shujaiya, mentioning the fall of "numbers of martyrs" and the displacement of "thousands... under the weight of bombardments and systematic targeting of unarmed civilians."
