Three Israeli soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Beit Hanoun, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on December 23. The deaths come as the IDF continues operations in northern Gaza that began in early October. The IDF has worked to clear Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya, three key areas in Gaza’s north. The process has been slow and systematic, requiring civilians to evacuate, followed by troops searching for terrorist cells that remain.
Using IEDs is an emerging tactic by terrorist groups in Gaza. Hamas has seen many of its large, organized battalions defeated by the IDF in parts of Gaza and has resorted to reducing the size of its units and using more explosive devices and other guerilla methods. “The incident [in which the three soldiers were killed] occurred in the town’s western area, where the IDF had expanded operations earlier in the day as part of a battalion-level assault on a street occupied by armed terrorists,” Israel’s Ynet reported on December 23.
The three soldiers were members of the IDF’s Kfir Brigade, which had recently begun operations in Beit Hanoun. On December 22, the IDF said that “based on intelligence information indicating the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the area, the troops began operating in the area west of Beit Hanoun.” The IDF also used artillery to strike the area.
A total of 821 members of the Israeli security forces have been killed since Hamas’s initial attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Of those, 391 have been killed in operations in Gaza and on its border since the ground operation began on October 27, 2023. While casualties have reduced in the last few months in Gaza, soldiers continue to be killed in different types of incidents. Two soldiers were killed in a building collapse on December 17.
Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz issued a statement about the three soldiers, calling the news “a difficult evening.” He said, “My heart goes out to their families and loved ones who received the most difficult news of all tonight. For their sake and in their memory, we will continue to act resolutely for the security of our country.”
The Kfir Brigade has been operating in northern Gaza as part of the IDF’s multi-pronged operations in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, and Jabaliya. The units in these areas are under the IDF’s 162nd Division. The Kfir Brigade operated in Beit Lahiya alongside combat engineers who recently demolished a 5-mile-long tunnel. “In one of the tunnel routes, IDF equipment that had been captured by Hamas terrorists on October 7th was discovered, along with maps of Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip, weapons, and living quarters,” the IDF said.
The IDF has been trying to remove what remains of Hamas terrorists throughout northern Gaza. On December 15, the IDF carried out a raid in Beit Hanoun that targeted a terrorist meeting. It appears the operations that began on December 22 were part of this ongoing attempt to root out terrorist cells there. This area is near the border with Israel and can be seen from the Israeli city of Sderot. Like many parts of northern Gaza, Beit Hanoun has been heavily impacted by more than a year of fighting, including airstrikes, artillery bombardments, and numerous raids by different IDF units.
In another area of northern Gaza called Duraj Tuffah, near Gaza City, the IDF conducted an airstrike targeting a terrorist named Tharwat Muhammad Ahmed Albec. The Israeli military said in a statement that he “served as the head of the Security Directorate of Hamas’ Security Mechanisms.” Albec had been using a former school, Musa bin Nusayr School, as cover, the IDF said on December 23, a day after the strike.
The IDF added that this school served as a “command and control center in the area of Daraj Tuffah in the Gaza Strip.” Duraj Tuffah is one of the areas adjoining Gaza City that the IDF has not operated in since earlier in the war.
The operations in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, and Jabaliya appear designed to completely remove all terrorist cells from these areas. However, the continuing discovery of cells illustrates the complexity and challenges of these efforts. The current campaign is now one of the longest continuous operations the IDF has conducted in Gaza’s neighborhoods, contrasting with many operations in which the IDF entered specific areas and then left.
