IDF launches fresh ground op in Gaza’s Jabaliya as Hamas tries to regroup

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Troops of the 162nd Division prepare to enter the northern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo issued October 6, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Troops of the 162nd Division prepare to enter the northern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo issued October 6, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF’s 162nd Division launched a new ground operation last night in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, the military says.

The IDF says the division’s 401st and 460th armored brigades encircled Jabaliya overnight, and troops are currently operating in the area.

The operation comes after the IDF says it has intelligence of Hamas operatives and infrastructure in the Jabaliya area, alongside efforts by the terror group to reestablish itself there.

As troops entered the area, the IDF says, it carried out a wave of airstrikes and artillery shelling, targeting dozens of Hamas sites in Jabaliya, including weapon depots, tunnels, cells of operatives, and other infrastructure.

“The operation will continue as long as necessary, while systematically striking and thoroughly destroying the terror infrastructure in the area,” the IDF says.

The 162nd Division was withdrawn from Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor — the Egypt-Gaza border area — after five months, and it has handed over responsibility for the area to the IDF’s Gaza Division.

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