The Israeli army retreats amid unprecedented resistance in Zeitoun and Jabalia

The Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip are facing unprecedented resistance with the start of a second phase in their ground war, in light of their failure to advance in the areas of Al-Zaytoun and Jabalia neighborhoods, after suffering heavy losses there.

At a time when the Israeli army announced that it was expanding its operation in the north and towards the south, after Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy approved this, it was forced to retreat in various axes in the north and center of the Gaza Strip, and acknowledged fierce battles and losses among the ranks of its forces, but it continued to bomb various areas in the Gaza Strip. , leaving more casualties, and imposed its siege on a number of Palestinian hospitals, including the Indonesian one, in a move to which the “Al-Qassam Brigades” responded by bombing a wide area starting from Ashdod in the south to Tel Aviv in the north.

Sources in the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip said: Palestinian fighters repelled the Israeli army’s attempt to advance towards the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood from the southeastern region and towards Jabalia, and forced it to retreat in the Al-Sabra axis and the Al-Thalathiini axis towards the west, indicating that they are clashing with it in the Sheikh Radwan and Al-Nasr areas.

Storming the Al-Zaytoun and Jabalia neighborhoods is considered the most difficult task for the Israeli army, which acknowledged fierce battles with the “Zaytoun Brigade,” which it described as one of the largest formations of the “Al-Qassam Brigades.”

On Sunday, the Al-Qassam Brigades published recorded videos and photos of its members targeting tanks, Israeli military vehicles, and soldiers holed up in buildings in Gaza City, and at the Rantisi Children’s Hospital. The scenes also showed surprise attacks from close range, towards tanks and soldiers, as well as Al-Qassam members seizing equipment belonging to Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli army announced, on Monday, that 3 of its forces were killed. This brings the number to more than 15 in the past three days, during which the army tried to advance further in the areas of the northern Gaza Strip and inside Gaza City. The Israeli army explained that two soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade were killed in clashes in the northern Gaza Strip, while a third soldier from the Givati ​​Brigade was killed in another location. This brings the number of Israeli soldiers and officers killed to 67 since the start of the ground incursion on October 27 last year. This brings to 387 the number of soldiers and officers killed since Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” last October 7.

Despite the difficulties facing the Israeli army, the Minister in the War Council, Benny Gantz, confirmed that the battle in the Gaza Strip is expanding, getting deeper, and will continue.

Gantz said: Even if there was a truce to return the kidnapped people, Israel would return to attack the enemy.

There are advanced negotiations on an exchange deal that includes children and women, but as of Monday evening there was no final agreement, even though President Joe Biden said in response to a question on the sidelines of a ceremony held at the White House that he “believes” that there is an imminent agreement to release the hostages of the movement. agitation”.

A political source told the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation: A deal has not yet been agreed upon, but progress has been made in this regard. There is talk of Hamas’s willingness to release over several days fifty people who were kidnapped during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, in exchange for the release of a similar number of prisoners, including women and children, in Israeli prisons. But Israel wants to increase the number of people Hamas will release.

While ground battles continued, Israeli forces imposed their siege on the Indonesian Hospital and Al Awda Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli tanks deployed around the Indonesian hospital and targeted everyone who tried to leave it.

The government media office said: Israel targeted the hospital with missiles and caused the killing and injury of many Palestinians in the hospital.

The Israeli army stormed and took control of Al-Shifa Hospital and Al-Rantisi Hospital, and attempted to take control of the Indonesian, Al-Awda, and Al-Mamadani hospitals.

Israel says that Hamas has turned hospitals, specifically the Al-Shifa Complex, into centers of command and control, but it has not provided conclusive evidence to support this accusation. On Sunday evening, it showed scenes of a tunnel that it claimed Hamas was using next to the Al-Shifa Complex.

On the other hand, Al-Qassam bombed large areas in Israel in a strike that seemed surprising after the intensity of the rocket bombardment from the Gaza Strip decreased. Al-Qassam announced strikes on Tel Aviv, Ashdod, and other areas in response to “massacres against civilians.” Sirens sounded in an area extending from Ashdod in the south to Herzliya in the north (about 60 km north of the Gaza Strip), and shrapnel fell in Tel Aviv and Holon.

Israeli media said: Sirens sounded in 129 Israeli locations at the same moment. This came while Israeli aircraft continued to bomb large areas in the Gaza Strip, causing great destruction and more casualties.

The government media office in Gaza said in a statistic it issued on Monday: “The total number of massacres committed by the Israeli occupation army is more than 1,340, while the number of missing persons has reached more than 6,500 missing persons, either under the rubble or their bodies dumped in the streets and roads, including more than Of 4,400 children and women.

The statement said: “The number of martyrs reached more than 13,300 martyrs, including more than 5,600 children and 3,550 women, while the number of casualties exceeded 31,000, more than 75 percent of whom were children and women.”

As for residential units, the number of residential units that were subjected to complete demolition amounted to 43 thousand residential units, in addition to 225 thousand residential units that were subjected to partial demolition. This means that about 60 percent of the residential units in the Gaza Strip were affected by the aggression, ranging from complete and invalid demolition. For housing and partial demolition.

The number of government buildings destroyed reached 98, 266 schools, including 66 schools that were out of service, 83 mosques completely and 170 mosques partially, in addition to 3 churches being targeted. As a result of the Israeli aggression, 25 hospitals and 52 health centers were out of service.