Mustafa Habboush
05 November 2023•Update: 08 November 2023
GAZA CITY, Palestine
The Israeli army retreated Saturday from areas it reached in the Gaza Strip amid fierce fighting with Palestinian fighters that left dozens of Israeli soldiers killed or injured.
The retreat comes after Israel advanced inside the Gaza Strip in recent days from several axes.
Israeli warplanes, artillery and warships have intensified attacks on Gaza City and northern Gaza, according to Anadolu.
On the other side, Hamas armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it attacked Israeli soldiers, military vehicles and tanks with rocket-propelled grenades, especially in the northern area of Gaza City.
The axe of northern Gaza
On the northern axe of Gaza, the Israeli forces retracted back after being stationed in the Al-Maqqousi area in northern Gaza City, and in the northern area of the al-Shati refugee camp, northwest of Gaza City.
Israeli forces returned to the north to station in the Al-Amrikiyah area, northwest of Beit Lahia, meaning the army retreated 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to position in the area it reached on the first day of the ground operation on Oct. 27.
According to Anadolu, where Israeli forces retreated is an agricultural area far from residential and populated areas.
Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said in a recorded message that Hamas fighters are fighting Israeli forces in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, in northwest Gaza City, and in the southeastern area of Gaza City in the Al-Zaytoun and Tal al-Hawa neighborhoods.
"Our Mujahideen (fighters) destroyed 24 Israeli military vehicles in the past two days," said Abu Obeida.
The Israeli army said Saturday it has lost 345 soldiers since the outbreak of fighting in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7.
Spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a news conference that four soldiers were killed in Gaza, bringing the death toll to 345.
The axe of southern Gaza
In southern Gaza City, the army kept shelling areas in the Al-Zaytoun and Tal al-Hawa neighborhoods by warplanes and artillery.
Israeli forces remain stationed 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the coastal road of Gaza, known as Al-Rasheed Street in southwestern Gaza City.
Al-Qassam Brigades said it is fighting Israeli forces on the southern axe of Gaza, and announced it attacked an Israeli tank with a "Konkurs" anti-tank guided missile.
To where Israeli forces are heading?
Based on the Israeli military ground operation, the Israeli army is seeking to advance from the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood toward the northern parts of Gaza.
It appears from the scale of destruction it caused in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood that it is preparing for ground advances from those areas.
The plan resembles the ground operation on Gaza in 2008 - 2009 which lasted 23 days when Israeli forces advanced from eastern Gaza into the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood.
At that time, Israeli forces reached the area of the Al-Quds Hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood. That area has seen heavy Israeli bombardment in recent days, especially in the surrounding areas of the Al-Quds Hospital.
Israel will continue its operations in Gaza until it achieves victory, even if that takes a full year, the nation’s defense minister said Saturday.
“We will remain in Gaza until we win, even if it takes a year,” Yoav Galant said in a public address broadcast by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.
He added, "After this war, no threat will remain in Gaza that will be able to terrorize Israel from the southern border. We'll have full operational freedom to act within the strip," according to Israeli media sources.
The death toll in Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 is 9,500, including 3,900 children and 2,509 women, Salama Marouf, the head of the Gaza Media Office, said on Saturday.
Nearly 1,540 Israelis have been killed, according to the official figures.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar
