Report from the battlefield: Hamas controls 90% of Gaza.

The Israeli army’s attack on Jabalia 

The Israeli army’s attack on Jabalia in the north of Gaza City came months after it announced the defeat of Hamas battalions there, stating that the movement no longer had any military presence in the area. Simultaneously with the Israeli attack on Jabalia, Hamas announced that it had launched rockets from the camp towards the city of Ashkelon. The Israeli army announced that 50 of its soldiers were injured during the past twenty-four hours, and it was announced that the deputy head of the Israeli surveillance system was injured, the highest-ranking Israeli officer to be injured since the beginning of the war. Israeli airstrikes hit multiple areas and battles in Jabalia, Zaitoun, and Beit Hanoun.

AFP correspondents, witnesses, and paramedics reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted parts of the north, center, and south of the Gaza Strip during the night and into Sunday morning. The Israeli occupation forces stated that they “intensified” their activity in the Zaitoun area in central Gaza as well, with AFP correspondents reporting intense clashes and heavy gunfire from Israeli helicopters in the Zaitoun area early Sunday morning. The Israeli occupation army ordered the residents and displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza to leave as airstrikes are carried out there. Families who fled the area said, “There is no safe place for them to go,” according to a report by the American network CNN.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Israeli forces deployed their tanks in the eastern Jabalia area north of the Gaza Strip, following a night of intensive aerial and ground bombardment by Israel.

According to the Israeli army, the operation aims to hinder Hamas efforts to regroup its ranks and rebuild its military capabilities in that area in recent weeks. In other areas in northern Gaza, Israeli forces exchanged fire with Hamas militants in Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and Al-Zeitoun. Some residents stated that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are fighting Israeli ground forces with anti-tank missiles, mortar shells, and sniper fire, as reported by Israel Hayom website.

Palestinian media reported that Israeli aircraft launched over 100 airstrikes in the skies of Jabalia camp in the past few hours, with continuous intensive and low-flying reconnaissance flights. Fierce Israeli airstrikes also targeted the newly established camp in Al-Nusairat in central Gaza. Meanwhile, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that they are engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces in the advancing axis east of Jabalia camp, where Israeli artillery continues to bombard residential buildings in the camp. They noted that their fighters downed an anti-tank missile with a drone on a Merkava tank east of Jabalia camp and released a video of the operation.

In addition to targeting seven tanks with Yassin 105 shells, a tank carrier was targeted with a tandem shell, resulting in soldiers being killed or wounded. The Al-Qassam Brigades also targeted a Merkava tank at the Mubhuh site in Jabalia camp, and after its soldiers fled to a pre-rigged house, they fell between killed and wounded. The most alarming to Israel was the launch of warning sirens in the city of Ashkelon in Israel on Sunday, due to rocket fire from Gaza, indicating that Palestinian militants there are still capable of launching rocket attacks after more than seven months since the start of the war.

 Al-Aqsa Channel, affiliated with Hamas, stated via Telegram that the rockets were launched from Jabalia, despite the ongoing incursion by the Israeli army.

Jabalua  residents evacuate again

On Saturday morning, the Israeli occupation army ordered more than 150,000 residents to evacuate their homes in Jabalia and head south. The leaflets dropped by the Israeli army in the city and in the neighboring Beit Lahia stated: “You are in a dangerous war zone, Hamas is trying to rebuild its strength, and therefore the army will move forcefully against terrorist organizations in the area, according to its description, anyone who remains there will be in danger,” according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Sa’id (45 years old), from the residents of Jabalia, said: “The bombing from the air and the ground hasn’t stopped since yesterday. They were bombing everywhere, especially near the schools where people who have lost their homes are staying.” He added to Reuters via a messaging app: “It’s like the war in Jabalia is starting all over again, that’s what’s happening.”

This comes as Israel defied international opposition this week and sent tanks and troops to the east of Rafah, effectively closing the Rafah crossing, which is the main gateway for aid. This has led to a massive displacement believed to reach around 800,000 refugees from the already overcrowded city, including those displaced from other areas.

Hamas Returns Through Gang Warfare Tactics

Palestinian sources in Gaza told Haaretz that Hamas and other factions are attempting to intensify fighting in the northern Gaza Strip and specifically in Gaza City through gang warfare tactics, in an attempt to send a message that the movement still operates and controls what is happening in the Strip.

According to the sources, Hamas leadership seeks to convey a message that even the potential control of Rafah will not end the war.

Last Friday, four Israeli soldiers were killed in an explosion in the Zeytoun neighborhood of Gaza, and rockets were fired at the city of Be’er Sheva in southern Israel for the first time in five months.

Meanwhile, fighting continues in Rafah in the south.

Hamas has so far proven capable of withstanding seven months of war and regaining control of nearly 90% of Gaza, as reported by the right-wing Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post.

For example, Hamas launched rockets at Be’er Sheva and Ashkelon twice in the past few days. It has also systematically targeted the Kerem Shalom crossing since May 5.

The report states that Israel, in turn, has deepened its forces in the Strip and called for the evacuation of more people from Gaza.

The report adds that perhaps the Hamas battalions are withdrawing from Rafah and returning to Khan Yunis, claiming that the Israeli army’s withdrawal from Khan Yunis in April allowed Hamas to return there.

The report suggests that Hamas may have benefited from the absence of pressure around Rafah, but it will also have to deal with Israeli Defense Forces incursions into Jabalia and Zeytoun.

For Hamas, which feels victorious in the war, the multiple fronts now facing the Israeli army may pose a challenge, according to the newspaper.

Hamas says it continues to fight the Israeli occupation army in Zeytoun and Jabalia and coordinates with other groups like the Islamic Jihad Movement. The movement also said it is working with several other groups in Gaza to target Israeli forces in the Natsareem corridor, established by the occupation forces to separate the north and south of the Strip, but has become a preferred target for Palestinian resistance artillery attacks.

How did Hamas survive Israeli attacks over six months?

Despite Israel’s repeated announcements of dismantling Hamas battalions throughout Gaza, except in Rafah, Hamas forces have survived fierce Israeli attacks through a tactic of dispersing its men and waiting until the Israeli occupation army withdraws before resurfacing, according to the Israeli newspaper.

Israeli and American reports indicate that the Israeli occupation army has not yet discovered a large percentage of Hamas tunnels. For example, Israeli sources quoted recent intelligence reports suggesting that it is possible that the Hamas leader is hiding in underground tunnels in the Khan Yunis area, despite all the bombing the city has been subjected to. The movement also prefers to carry out sudden attacks and set ambushes when the occupation army returns to any area.

Moreover, Hamas has rebuilt its battalions by filling the ranks of the martyred leaders.

A Jerusalem Post report commenting on the Israeli army’s incursion into Jabalia camp says Hamas is waiting for the Israeli occupation army to withdraw and will return. It is accustomed to this kind of “cat and mouse” game in Gaza; it adapts to new fighting methods.

The report adds: “The future of the situation in Gaza depends on whether Hamas can restructure itself in Khan Yunis and how it will seek to respond to opening new fronts in northern Gaza. But Hamas has already shown its ability to respond by launching rockets.”

On the Israeli side, there appears to be internal disagreement over interpreting this military failure, which led to Hamas’s return to areas Israel claimed to have defeated the resistance in.

Israeli army leaders leak reports suggesting that the reason for this failure is the lack of a political plan by Netanyahu and his rejection of a post-Hamas scenario, indicating the Israeli army’s need to hand over power to alternative forces to Hamas, such as tribal elders or the Palestinian Authority. But the question overlooked by those who adopt this scenario is, who among the Palestinians will accept coming under the occupation tanks, and if few accept that, how will this force be able to defeat the resistance that the Israeli army has failed to destroy despite its immense capabilities?

On the other hand, the Israeli right, like the right-wing Jerusalem Post newspaper, attempts to justify this failure by the absence of remaining Israeli army units in the areas it previously occupied. They ignore that the presence of Israeli soldiers in the destroyed Palestinian cities in the Gaza Strip would make them easy prey for Palestinian resistance.

Both sides ignore that the solution is not military, and that attempting to eliminate Hamas may end in a long-term gang war, while attempting to find an alternative may end in dismal failure.

It seems that Israel has no choice but to negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas.