Israel will ‘not destroy Hamas’ in Rafah; Palestinian fighters launch 17 attacks in Gaza City: Monitors
Israeli forces were attacked at least 17 times by Palestinian armed groups fighting in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood on Friday, suggesting that “Hamas has been able to either preserve or reconstitute military capabilities” despite sustained Israeli operations in the area, war monitors report.
In their joint battlefield assessment, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) – two US-based think tanks – report that Hamas fighters used sniper rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades in the 17 attacks as Israeli forces attempted to clear Zeitoun for a third time.
“This high rate of attacks is not consistent with a destroyed military force,” the ISW/CTP report states. “Palestinian militias retain the will and the means to continue disrupting and defending against [Israeli] raids, as evidenced by the rate of Palestinian militia attacks during this raid,” the report adds.
The war monitors said the “resilience of Hamas and other Palestinian militia groups” strongly indicates that the Israeli military operation “in Rafah will not destroy Hamas”. “Hamas has survived as a military entity in the remainder of the Strip, including throughout the north,“ they add.
‘Sophisticated attacks’: Hamas fighters prepared in advance for assault on Rafah
Sophisticated attacks launched by Palestinian fighters against Israeli forces advancing on Rafah demonstrate that Hamas prepared in advance to slow the ground invasion down, war monitors report.
On Friday, Palestinian fighters carried out “three tactically sophisticated attacks” on Israeli forces in Rafah involving the use of “thermobaric bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, and anti-personnel rockets in multi-stage attacks”, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) have reported.
Fighters, including Hamas forces, conducted 18 attacks on Israeli troops in eastern Rafah on Friday, according to the report by the ISW/CTP, two US-based think tanks.
“The sophisticated nature of these attacks required planning, coordination, and organization, further underscoring that the Hamas battalions in Rafah are cohesive fighting units that can mount a deliberate defence against Israeli clearing operations,” the think tanks said.
Israel orders more eastern Rafah neighbourhoods to evacuate
The Israeli military has expanded its evacuation order for Rafah, telling residents of designated blocks of the al-Jnaina, Khirbet al-Adas, and al-Adari neighbourhoods, and Shaboura camp to urgently leave.
In a post on X, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee told residents to “immediately head to the expanded humanitarian area in al-Mawasi”.
In addition to expanding evacuation orders for Rafah, Israel has also called for residents to evacuate areas of Jabalia and northern Gaza:
- al-Salam
- Tal az-Zaatar
- al-Nour
- Ezbet Mlin
- al-Rawda
- al-Nuzha
- al-Jarn
- al-Nahda
- az-Zuhour
- Jabalia camp
- Beit Lahiya project
Evacuation orders apply to some areas of central Rafah
Witnesses in Rafah have confirmed that Israeli authorities dropped leaflets and made phone calls for more evacuation orders. They are now ordering people to flee from central areas of Rafah, not only the eastern portions, where battles are now raging.
Earlier today, evacuation orders were issued for Shaboura and the vicinity of Kuwaiti Hospital. People are told to flee because these areas will in the future become a military operation zone for the Israeli army. The situation is completely dire.
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