The death toll from the Israeli bombing of Gaza rose to 17,700

The Israeli forces have been confronted with fierce resistance in the Gaza Strip since they began the ground invasion on October 27. This resistance does not end anywhere, and appears to be continuing and escalating, even after the Israeli army announced its control over several areas.

The Israelis give names and descriptions of the areas targeted in the fighting in an attempt to show the complexities of the military scene, such as what they say about “the center of Hamas rule,” “the valley of the Grad missiles,” “the stronghold of Hamas,” and “the military neighborhood,” while they call the “Al-Qassam Brigades” (the military wing). (Hamas) combat zones by their normal names known to the Palestinians.

Since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the residents of the Gaza Strip have not seen Israeli tanks and vehicles penetrate in this way deep into the cities and camps where fierce fighting is taking place.

In this report, Asharq Al-Awsat draws a map of the most prominent areas into which Israeli forces have penetrated in the Gaza Strip:

* Al Karama Neighborhood (also known as the Employees Neighborhood)

It is located northwest of Gaza City, and was one of the first areas to be exposed to intense fire belts at the beginning of the Israeli war.

Before the start of the current war, about 30,000 people lived in the neighborhood. It is considered a relatively upscale neighborhood. It contains the Dignity Towers, which were built by the Palestinian Authority in 1996. They were severely damaged by Israeli attacks, and the majority of Palestinian Authority employees also live there.

This is the second time that this neighborhood has witnessed an Israeli military ground operation, after the occupation forces entered it in the 2008-2009 war and caused major damage to it. But this ongoing operation is the largest in terms of the number of deaths, injuries, and severe damage to homes and property.

Despite the policy of destruction pursued by the Israeli forces, the neighborhood witnessed violent resistance in which many Israeli soldiers were killed, before the occupation forces, after about 20 days of bloody fighting, extended full control over the neighborhood.

*Al-Shati Camp (also known as Yassin Camp, Haniyeh Camp, and the beginnings of Hamas)

The camp is located west of Gaza City, and is one of the most densely populated places. It includes about 103,000 refugees whose ancestors were displaced there during the Nakba of 1948.

It was given this name because it is located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

The last time the camp residents saw Israelis was in 1993.

The Israeli forces accuse the Al-Qassam Beach Brigade of being behind many attacks on various fronts around the Gaza Strip on October 7, during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

The camp is considered the “Hamas leaders’ camp,” as the founder of the movement, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and his assistant at the time, Ismail Haniyeh, who today became the head of the Hamas political bureau, grew up in it.

The camp was an important center for this Islamic movement at the beginning of its founding in 1987, as it formed an arena for attracting many young people to its ranks and organizing them organizationally.

During the ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip, dozens of camp residents were killed and all its residents were displaced, while thousands of housing units were destroyed and damaged. The occupation forces withdrew from it with the start of the humanitarian truce that lasted for seven days, but they remained stationed on its outskirts and the outskirts of the neighboring Al-Nasr and Sheikh Radwan neighborhoods, where the Rantissi, children’s, eye, and mental health hospitals are located in the first neighborhood, which are medical facilities that the Israeli forces besieged, searched, and forcibly evacuated from. Patients and medical staff.

*Al-Zaytoun Neighborhood (Al-Kamayn Neighborhood)

This neighborhood is located south of Gaza City, and is inhabited by more than 120,000 people. During the 2008-2009 war and the 2014 war, it was the scene of Israeli ground operations. It was also a constant scene of similar incursions during the presence of settlements inside the Strip.

The neighborhood was given this name due to the large number of olive trees that still cover most of its southern lands today. The old neighborhood represented the commercial and residential part of the Daraj neighborhood before World War I.

Al-Zaytoun neighborhood is a stronghold of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements. The neighborhood’s fighters are described as among the most experienced and ferocious fighters. Israel has assassinated a number of the political and military leaders of the two movements in the neighborhood over the long years of conflict.

The Israeli forces have currently suffered heavy losses in the neighborhood, which was previously famous for the ambushes in which the Israeli army was set up, such as the “tank ambush” in 2004, when 6 soldiers were killed in a bombing, and also the “Al-Samuni area ambush” during the First Gaza War (2008-2009). In addition to several ambushes carried out during the 2014 war, in which soldiers were killed and dragged through tunnels.

* Tel al-Hawa neighborhood (the neighborhood of Palestinian Authority men and businessmen)

This neighborhood is considered one of the upscale neighborhoods southwest of Gaza City, with about 75,000 people living in it. It was considered a stronghold of the Fatah movement and the Palestinian Authority, which built many residential towers in it in 1996. It is inhabited by a majority of senior officials of the Authority and workers in its security services, and many Businessmen, merchants and others. It also contains the home of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which Hamas took control of following its control of the Gaza Strip in 2006.

In the 2008-2009 war, the outskirts of the neighborhood were subjected to a ground incursion in which Israeli forces reached what is known as the “Barcelona Towers,” from which they entered the outskirts of the Sabra neighborhood and the industrial area.

During the current operation, Israeli forces succeeded in completely controlling it, after massive air strikes and violent artillery shelling. During the advance of the Israeli army in the neighborhood, it succeeded in controlling the Ansar Government Complex, the security building, and the headquarters of government ministries affiliated with the Hamas government, and it also turned through it in the direction of Al-Shifa Hospital.

The neighborhood continues to witness sporadic attacks despite Israeli control over it.

*Al-Rimal neighborhood (“the capital” and “the center of Hamas rule”)

The most prestigious neighborhoods in Gaza City, and its beating heart in life and economics. Some even call it the “capital” because of the presence of constant commercial activity there. There are many economic and even governmental institutions, as well as the headquarters of the Legislative Council, which was bombed.

It includes the Square of the Unknown Soldier, which is a public park visited by many Gazans on various occasions, including New Year celebrations and others.

Israel says it is “the center of Hamas’ rule,” and has turned it into a pile of rubble.

* Beit Hanoun

It is located on the eastern and northern borders of the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces entered this town from the Erez checkpoint, which was controlled by Hamas fighters during their surprise attack on the Gaza Strip on October 7th.

The town, which has a population of more than 62 thousand people, was subjected to violent bombardment and a massive ground incursion, but the resistance there is violent and continuous.

*Beit Lahia

The town is located north of the Gaza Strip. Part of it overlooks the northern border of the Strip. The town, with a population of about 98,000 people, is witnessing violent clashes that are still continuing, despite the Israeli forces being able to control large parts of it.

*Jabalia (“Hamas stronghold” in the northern Gaza Strip and the cradle of the first Intifada)

It includes Jabalia, Jabala Al-Balad, Jabalia Camp, as well as the area known as Tal Al-Zaatar, in addition to the Al-Faluga area. All of these areas, located in the northern Gaza Strip, are among the most important strongholds of the Hamas movement, and contain many prominent leaders, including those who were assassinated many years ago, even during the current events.

Israeli ground forces advanced to several areas there, such as Tal Al-Zaatar, Al-Faluga, and some areas of the Jabalia camp, amid violent and unprecedented clashes.

During the current war, Israel assassinated the commander of the Northern Gaza Strip Brigade in the Al-Qassam Brigades, Ahmed Al-Ghandour, in Jabalia, in addition to a number of his aides responsible for Jabalia, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun.

Jabalia camp has a long history of struggle, from which the first intifada erupted in 1987. It also witnessed a famous battle in 2004 that was called the Days of Rage.

The population of Jabalia in its various sections is more than 360 thousand people.

*Shujaiya neighborhood (the worst place in Israel)

It is located east of Gaza City, has a population of more than 170 thousand people, and is considered a stronghold for military leaders.

During the 2008-2009 war and the 2014 war, it was a scene of Israeli ground operations, and it was a constant scene of similar incursions during Israel’s presence inside the Gaza Strip before the withdrawal in 2005.

The most prominent military commanders of the factions lived and live in the neighborhood, including Ahmed Al-Jaabari, who was described as “the chief of staff of the resistance,” and he was the second-in-command in the “Al-Qassam Brigades” after Muhammad Al-Deif, who was assassinated in 2012, and Bahaa Abu Al-Atta, a leader in “Islamic Jihad” who was assassinated in 2012. 2018.

The neighborhood is witnessing fierce battles, and Israel says it is “the worst place in the world,” and it has fierce fighters.

The neighborhood became famous after soldier Oron Shaul was kidnapped from its outskirts in the 2014 war. A few days ago, Israel assassinated Wissam Farhat, the commander of the Shujaiya neighborhood battalion, who was responsible for the soldier’s capture. Ghassan Alyan, who was a commander of the Golani Brigade forces, was wounded in that war (2014). His picture became famous with shrapnel hitting his face. He currently works in charge of what is known as the “Coordinator of the Activities of the Israeli Government,” and he was among those who supported the continuation of Qatari support for Gaza in exchange for calm.

*Khan Younis (“Palestinian Port Said” and the birthplace of Al-Deif and Al-Sanwar)

The largest governorate in the Gaza Strip, it is located in its south. About 390,000 people live in it, and it is divided into two parts, eastern and western.

Parts of its western, northern and eastern lands were part of Israeli settlements established within the Gaza Strip until the withdrawal in 2005. These settlements witnessed a series of Palestinian attacks in which dozens of settlers were killed and injured, especially during the second intifada that broke out until 2000.

Khan Yunis (or Khan Yunis) is famous for its many offensive and defensive tunnels, and it has a history of resistance that begins in the mid-fifties when people used to sing to it, “Khan Yunis, Port Said, your struggle is a glorious struggle.”

Muhammad Al-Deif, the commander-in-chief of Al-Qassam, was born there, and Yahya Al-Sinwar, the current leader of the Hamas movement in Gaza, and his brother Muhammad, one of Al-Deif’s aides and was responsible for the capture of soldier Gilad Shalit, and other senior Hamas leaders whom Israel has so far failed to reach. Although they are considered directly responsible for the October 7 attack.

Khan Yunis is currently witnessing fierce battles.