Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu removed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on November 5, shaking up Israeli politics in the midst of a multi-front war. Netanyahu’s decision came after months of tension with Gallant. “I have decided today to remove the Defense Minister from his post. In his stead, I have decided to appoint Minister Israel Katz to this position,” Netanyahu said on Tuesday evening.
The prime minister said that he had lost trust in Gallant. “Even though such trust was present during the first months of the military campaign, and we had a very productive cooperation, during the past several months, this trust between myself and the Defense Minister has begun to crack,” Netanyahu said. The two clashed over several important issues. Gallant had put a priority on returning the 101 hostages held in Gaza, as well as drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the army, even though they generally receive an exemption from military service. Gallant also wanted a commission of inquiry into the October 7 Hamas attack.
“I salute Israel’s fallen troops and their families, our wounded veterans, the hostages and their families, all of the IDF’s troops and security forces,” Gallant wrote on social media in the wake of the announcement. Netanyahu’s removal of Gallant is a major decision after more than a year of war. Gallant had significant military experience and was known for advocating a military operation against Hezbollah soon after Hamas’s attack on October 7. This offensive eventually happened far later, beginning in mid-September 2024. The IDF is now fighting in southern Lebanon with four divisions.
The IDF also continues operations against Hamas in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Jabalya. “IDF troops continue to operate in the Rafah area and have located hundreds of weapons, including mortars, RPG missiles, explosives, AK-47s, and more, eliminated terrorists, and dismantled terrorist infrastructure sites over the past day,” the IDF said on November 5. Israeli forces in the neighborhood eliminated “dozens of terrorists” between November 4 and 5, the Israeli military added.
Israeli operations in Jabalya are led by the 162nd Division, tasked with clearing a dense urban area that includes a refugee camp established in 1948. That camp is now a warren of multi-story buildings that spreads over more than a kilometer. Around it, the Jabalya area stretches along low hills northeast of Gaza City.
During a visit to Jabalya on November 5, this correspondent spent a day with the IDF’s Multidimensional Unit, established in 2020 and also called Refaim (“Ghosts”). The goal of this unit, which combines soldiers from multiple branches with experienced special forces personnel, is to blend new technology with special forces tactics. It uses new drones and unmanned M113 armored personal carriers, receiving new models and systems to test them on modern battlefields. The unit’s overall objective is not just to employ new technology but also to improve its use so that larger conventional units, such as armored and infantry brigades, can “close the circle” faster to eliminate threats. For example, this might mean that an infantry unit that spots a potential terrorist threat doesn’t need to wait as long to call in fire support or investigate to confirm more details about the danger. Instead, it can rely on rapidly deployed quadcopter drones and precision strikes to counter terrorists.
In Gaza, the Multidimensional Unit has been working with other elements of the 162nd Division in an urban area of Jabaliya. It coordinates closely with the 401st Armored Brigade, the Givati Infantry, and other units. Throughout the battle in Jabaliya over the last month, around 1,000 terrorists have been eliminated while hundreds of alleged terrorists have been detained, the IDF estimates. A significant challenge was separating civilians from the Hamas members among them. Around 55,000 civilians have evacuated Jabaliya since the operation began in early October.
Today, much of the fighting in Jabaliya appears to be winding down. The IDF has cleared nearby neighborhoods as well, such as Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. A drive into the area revealed how areas north of Gaza City have been badly damaged from a year of war. No civilians were seen during this trip. The ability to move during the day in Humvees also illustrated how threats from snipers and other attacks appear to have reduced. In contrast, the last time I entered the same area in December 2023, we arrived with heavy Namer armored personnel carriers—tracked, 60-ton vehicles.
The change in equipment reflects the changing nature of the enemy. Hamas has ceased to be able to coordinate attacks in northern Gaza, according to the commanders in the area. Instead, the group hides more closely behind civilians, and removing terrorists from the area is a complex and lengthy task. Using new technology, such as more unmanned vehicles, enables forces to scan areas and identify movement in a complex urban environment that consists of many damaged and destroyed multi-story buildings.
