Abdelraouf Arnaout and Rania Abu Shamala
09 July 2025•Update: 09 July 2025
JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL
The Israeli army said Wednesday that it started encircling the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
“Under the command of the 162nd Division, the Givati Brigade combat team has joined the 99th Division forces and begun operations to encircle Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip,” the army said in a statement.
It claimed that its forces began to undermine Hamas’ military capabilities in the area and eliminate its fighters.
The Israeli escalation follows the death of five soldiers while 14 others were injured in fighting in Beit Hanoun on Monday.
Beit Hanoun lies on the northern border of the Gaza Strip and has been under relentless Israeli bombardment in recent months, with army patrols operating inside and around the town.
During the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, the Israeli army destroyed large parts of the town, turning the area into a “disaster zone.”
Five military divisions are operating inside Gaza, each including two or more brigades, totaling thousands of soldiers, according to previous Israeli army data.
The Israeli army has killed nearly 57,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and a spread of disease.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
