The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a long report from Jabalia refugee camp, north of the Gaza Strip, confirming that it has turned into a ghost town, after it was one of the most crowded places in the world before the war.
The newspaper’s military affairs analyst, Amos Harel, said that the army completely destroyed about 70% of the buildings in the Jabalia camp, during its military operation that began there on October 5, 2024.
This is the third time that the Israeli army has invaded Jabalia camp, the first was in December 2023, and the second was last May, according to the same source.
During a short visit to the camp, Harel added, “It was possible to see that even the few remaining buildings had sustained noticeable damage.
The analyst stated that it is difficult to compare the giant Hezbollah sites that were blown up by the Israeli army in the villages of southern Lebanon, and the expanded Philadelphia axis in Rafah (southern Gaza), with what happened during the past two and a half months in the Jabalia camp, in terms of the severity and scope of the destruction.
Harel likened Jabalia to a ghost town, saying: “Outside you can see groups of dogs wandering around looking for leftover food.”
The 162nd Armored Division operates 4 combat brigades in Jabalia and in the neighboring cities of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia (north), according to Haaretz.
According to Harel, Izz al-Din Haddad, the commander of the military wing of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, is coordinating efforts to confront Israeli forces in the camp.
He said that Hamas is waging its battles there through small groups of 4 or 5 individuals armed with light weapons, RPG missiles, explosives, and explosive devices.
Since the start of the last invasion last October, 35 Israeli army soldiers have been killed in fighting in and around the camp, and hundreds of them have been wounded, according to Harel.
A new way to resist
According to a Haaretz analyst, after the Israeli forces incurred a relatively large number of deaths and injuries, especially when entering the bombed-out homes, a different method of operation was adopted.
He explained that the Israeli army has begun to adopt a slower and more cautious movement, which leaves behind massive destruction, but reduces the number of deaths among its ranks.
He said that in the first two weeks of the operation, residents hesitated about leaving Jabalia camp, but the Israeli army increased the pressure, including heavy shooting near civilians to force them to leave quickly.
He pointed out that what is happening in Jabalia camp comes against the backdrop of the generals’ plan, which aims to remove the entire Palestinian civilian population from the north and south of the Strip up to the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza City.
The generals’ plan is a plan proposed – at the beginning of last September – by the former head of the Israeli National Security Council, Major General Giora Eiland, and supported by dozens of current and former senior officers in the Israeli army. It aims to gain Israel control over the distribution of humanitarian aid by imposing a siege on the northern Gaza Strip and displacing… Its residents, according to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
According to the plan, the entire area north of the Netzarim Corridor (established by the Israeli army in the middle of the Gaza Strip to separate its north from its south), that is, Gaza City and all its neighborhoods, will become a closed military zone.
In other words, the entire population of the region, which the army estimates is about 300,000 people, will be forced to leave immediately through corridors that the army claims are safe, according to the same source.
The Palestinians do not trust what Israel considers safe passages or areas, as they were previously forcibly displaced to areas it deemed safe, and then were repeatedly exposed to Israeli bombing, which resulted in martyrs, wounded, and massive destruction.
On October 5, the Israeli army again invaded the northern Gaza Strip, under the pretext of preventing Hamas from regaining its power in the region, while the Palestinians say that Tel Aviv wants to occupy the region and turn it into a buffer zone after displacing them.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving nearly 153,000 Palestinians martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly.
Israel continues its massacres, ignoring two arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court on November 21, against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinians in Gaza.