The IDF said on Sunday that – if ordered – it will prolong keeping Jabalya cut-off from Gaza City amid the military’s continuous operations to clear out northern Gaza of regrouping Hamas cells and following the massive bust of Hamas activity in Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalya on Friday.
All of this comes amid an ongoing debate about whether Israel is implementing a plan known as “the General’s Plan,” proposed by several senior former IDF officials, to empty all of northern Gaza of Palestinians and cut it off completely – as a pressure move against Hamas.
Both Jabalya and Gaza City are broadly part of northern Gaza. But, Jabalya, along with Beit Hanun and Beit Lahiya, is part of the northernmost half of the enclave, which has been progressively emptied of most Palestinian terrorists and civilians alike since early October.
In early October, the IDF evacuated tens of thousands of Palestinians to Gaza City and further south; large numbers of Hamas terrorists were also killed.
Smaller-scale operations
Due to both global criticism and having exhausted the main Hamas sites to attack at the time, the IDF returned to smaller-scale operations to take out smaller cells for much of the last two months.
The Biden administration and European allies have strongly opposed “the General’s Plan,” and Israel has denied its adoption. In practice, Jerusalem seems to have been half-implementing the plan in parts of northern Gaza while allowing some Palestinians to remain in Gaza City.
This trend of smaller operations against Hamas was broken on Friday when the IDF, in coordination with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), apprehended at least 240 terrorists in a targeted operation. This constituted Hamas’s latest attempt to regroup in northern Gaza, the fighters largely embedded within the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalya.
In the weeks before the operation, the IDF had already started clearing improvised explosive devices in the vicinity of the hospital, as well as most of the pathways and potential escape routes to and from the facility.
The IDF had carried out up to four targeted attacks on smaller Hamas cells near the hospital but was careful to avoid the hospital itself – all part of a strategy to lull the Hamas men hiding in the hospital into a false sense of security.
When the IDF finally struck on Friday, it took troops an hour to surround all inbound and outbound routes to and from the hospital to prevent escapes.
Initially, a short battle took place between Hamas fighters and IDF troops, but the Hamas men were killed. Two groups tried to escape in two different directions but were quickly killed by the forces which had them surrounded.
Officers then called out the hospital’s director, Hussam Abu Safiya, and explained to him the process for evacuating patients and detaining terrorists pretending to be patients. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry later announced that Abu Safiya was arrested by the IDF during the raid.
Shortly after, hundreds of Palestinians emerged from the hospital into an isolated corridor where all persons could be checked.
In the first ambulance, the military found that 13 out of 21 passengers were uninjured and were terrorists pretending to be patients to flee arrest. They, and many others, f were arrested one by one.
The IDF has suggested that among those apprehended, it was possible that new valuable intelligence regarding the remaining hostages may have been acquired.
Ahead of the operation, the military facilitated the evacuation of 350 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel from the hospital in recent weeks, working closely with the unit for Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories. The IDF said that during this period, tens of thousands of liters of fuel, food, and medical supplies were delivered to ensure the facility’s essential functioning.
On the day of the operation, 95 patients and staff members were relocated to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, assisted by local health authorities. The IDF said it provided 5,000 liters of fuel, two generators, and medical equipment to maintain critical systems at the Indonesian Hospital, where hundreds of civilians were evacuated through defined safety routes.
The 401st Brigade encircled the hospital, apprehended terrorists in the vicinity, and eliminated those who resisted arrest and threatened troops, the IDF said.
Separately, the military announced on Sunday night that Yuval Shoham, 22, from Jerusalem, was killed in battle in northern Gaza.
In a separate incident, a Nahal brigade soldier from the 931st battalion was wounded in northern Gaza by sniper fire.
Within the hospital, Shayetet 13 special forces found and confiscated an arsenal of weapons, including grenades and firearms. During the operation, terrorists attempted to launch anti-tank missiles and RPGs but were killed by the soldiers. The Israel Air Force also killed terrorists attempting to flee the area.
The IDF added that the arsenal of weapons in the hospital was smaller than in some other Hamas-run hospitals, as the terrorist group adjusted to hospital invasions and moved much of its weaponry to apartments across the street from the hospital. These weapons were also separately confiscated.
In total, the IDF apprehended over 240 individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities. Among those detained was the hospital’s director, suspected of being a Hamas operative, along with other key Hamas and PIJ figures, including 15 individuals linked to the October 7 massacre. Testimonies collected by Unit 504 and the Shin Bet confirmed the participation in terrorist activities of many of those detained.
The IDF reiterated its commitment to adhering to international law regarding medical facilities, even when such facilities are exploited by Hamas for military purposes.
The World Health Organization (WHO), in a Friday post to X/Twitter, said the raid on the hospital, one of three remaining functional medical facilities in northern Gaza, put the last major health facility in northern Gaza out of service.
Hamas has claimed that the Indonesian Hospital, where the IDF transferred fuel, as well as medical personnel and supplies, isn’t in service.
On Sunday afternoon, Hamas fired five projectiles from northern Gaza into Israel, the military confirmed shortly after the incident. Two projectiles were intercepted, and the rest likely hit open areas, the IDF added.
This followed an IAF strike on Saturday on the rocket launchers in Gaza used to fire rockets at the Jerusalem area, central Israel, and the Negev early Saturday morning.
The IAF also struck a launcher containing a rocket that was ready to be fired, which unintentionally caused the rocket to be launched. The military did not note how far or where the rocket subsequently traveled or if it caused any damage.
On Saturday, the IDF intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza over Israeli airspace before they caused harm. The military noted they had been fired from the Beit Hanun area in northern Gaza, triggering rocket alarms across the Jerusalem region.
“The widespread alerts stemmed from concerns over debris from the interception,” military officials stated.
The strike came amid orders to expand the IDF operations across the enclave. Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi told the army on Saturday to reallocate forces from other sectors. On Saturday, the Nahal Brigade concluded its operations in Rafah and shifted its operations to Beit Hanun.
Evacuation orders kicked in, and the IDF confirmed that troops were enabling civilians to evacuate through designated routes. Beit Hanun residents later confirmed the evacuation orders.
Other units, including armored corps and combat engineering forces, have been instructed in recent days to prepare for redeployment to Gaza, forming part of efforts to increase military pressure on Hamas amid hostage-ceasefire negotiations. The Southern Command has also restarted planning and conducting aerial operations as part of preparations for an expanded operation.
The IDF’s current efforts include operations by the 162nd Division in northern Gaza, the 99th Division in the Netzarim corridor, and the Gaza Division in the buffer zone, the southern Gaza Strip, and along the Philadelphi corridor.
In Syria, 17 people were allegedly killed, along with several others wounded, during a drone strike in the Adra area, located in the Damascus countryside, according to a Sunday afternoon Sky News Arabia report.
The strike was not carried out by Israel.
Danielle Greyman-Kennard contributed to this report.