Israeli circles expressed their concern about what they said were attempts by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to regain control over the northern Gaza Strip, and Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir considered withdrawing the army from the region a “fatal and dangerous mistake.”
Army Radio said on Tuesday that there is a worrying trend in the Israeli security establishment, which is that Hamas is trying to restore its civilian capabilities in the northern Gaza Strip.
The radio added, after the end of the ground maneuver in the northern Gaza Strip, that the Israeli security services acknowledge Hamas’s attempts to return its local police to the area and control it.
Today, Tuesday, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir sharply criticized the decision to withdraw the army from the northern Gaza Strip, and called for the occupation of the Strip.
The leader of the far-right Jewish Power party said in a post on the
Ben Gvir added, “The decision to withdraw the Israeli army from Hamas centers in the Gaza Strip is a grave and dangerous mistake that will cost human lives.”
He continued, “The barrage of rockets that were fired this morning at Netivot from an area that Israeli army forces left only yesterday proves once again that the occupation of the Gaza Strip is necessary to achieve combat objectives.”
Ben Gvir considered that the continuation of the war and the overreach of the political and security government through the small government (the War Ministerial Council) was “unacceptable to the Jewish power,” as he put it.
Withdrawal of an army division
On Monday, Army Radio said that the latter decided to withdraw the 36th Division from the Gaza Strip, while 3 divisions continued to fight alongside the Special Forces, which are responsible for the northern Gaza coast.
On Tuesday morning, the Israeli army carried out new incursions into more than one axis in the Gaza and northern governorates, amid clashes with Palestinian resistance factions, hours after Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced the end of the intensive ground operation in the north.
Gallant said – in a press conference on Monday – in reference to the ground war, “In the northern region of the Gaza Strip, this stage will end. In southern Gaza, we will reach this achievement and it will end soon.”
Explaining the third phase of the war, Galat added, “In both places, the moment will come when we move to the next phase. We adapt our field operations to suit the reality on the ground as it becomes clear to us, according to military achievements, with the destruction of the enemy, and according to our intelligence information.”
The Minister of Defense did not reveal whether the ground operation north of the Gaza Strip had actually achieved its goals of eliminating Hamas.
But in turn, Israeli Army Radio indicated that, for example, the humanitarian aid trucks arriving in the northern Gaza Strip are all actually arriving in the hands of Hamas.
She said, “Hamas is working to regain control of the region, in light of the vacuum that has created there.”
The radio considered that the main concern in the security establishment is the possibility of Hamas succeeding in restoring its military capabilities in the region as well.
She said, “It is striking the events of the last day in the northern Gaza Strip. In Beit Lahia, Israeli army forces seized 60 rockets ready to be launched, and in the Beach camp, army forces killed 9 militants. Yesterday, a barrage of about 10 missiles was launched from Beit Hanoun towards Sderot in cover of… Gaza strip”.
Military correspondent for Army Radio Doron Kadosh asked, “Didn’t the decision to switch to targeted raids in the northern Gaza Strip come early, and would it have been better to leave an entire division to carry out a large-scale maneuver within the region and not reduce its forces?”
Kadosh added, “Why are we talking about the next day, when this day already exists in the northern Gaza Strip?”
Since last October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that, as of Tuesday, has left 24,285 martyrs and 61,154 injured, and caused the displacement of more than 85% (about 1.9 million people) of the Strip’s population, according to the Palestinian authorities and the United Nations. .
Israel had set three goals for the war: overthrowing Hamas’ rule in Gaza, eliminating its military capabilities, and returning Israeli prisoners from Gaza, but to date it has not announced the achievement of any of these goals.