IDF on the Rafah invasion: 'It's inevitable, we need to decide on method, force'

Israeli forces are seen operating in the Gaza Strip on January 29, 2024

The fighting in Khan Yunis is mainly taking place above ground, as hiding places for senior Hamas officials are running low. Additionally, the IDF is working to repair the fence between Israel and Gaza but is receiving criticism that the work is being done too quickly without taking past mistakes into account, Walla reported.

In the ground incursion, the last remaining large area is Rafah, where IDF sources say that a raid is an inevitable reality. “It will happen, and all that remains to be decided is the method and force.”

At this stage, the IDF’s efforts are from both the ground and the air in the Gaza Strip. There is a depletion of reserve forces that were released, and the regular forces have gone on vacations and to training. Some have shifted their operations to focus on Judea and Samaria, the border between Syria and Lebanon, as well as to political and intelligence areas.

IDF operations are underway as members of the cabinet and the top officials believe that a ground incursion, as well as exerting pressure on Hamas from the air, will expedite negotiations for the release of hostages and lead to a more effective process.

In Khan Yunis

At this stage, most of the attention is focused on Khan Yunis. The 98th Brigade, under the command of Brigadier General Dan Goldfus, is still performing engineering activities underground, to not only locate strategic infrastructure where senior officials of the political and military branches of Hamas can hide or where the hostages are held but also to map, clean, and destroy them.

IDF and Shin Bet forces operate in Khan Yunis neighborhood where Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, lived in recent years. December 15, 2023. (credit: IDF)

IDF and Shin Bet forces operate in Khan Yunis neighborhood where Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, lived in recent years. December 15, 2023. (credit: IDF)

Concurrently, intense fighting continues throughout the city above ground, in areas where there is a high concentration of terrorists hiding behind civilians, such as at the Nasser Hospital.

“Every day that passes, Hamas leaders have fewer places to hide, above the ground and particularly below the ground,” a senior IDF officer told Walla! “Eventually, they will have to come up and make a decision between surrendering or death.” The IDF now estimates that the 98th Brigade is close to announcing that all the Hamas battalions in Khan Yunis have been dismantled and have been rendered dysfunctional.

Refugee camps in Gaza

The IDF mainly attacks the refugee camps named Nuseirat, el-Bureij, Ma’aji, and Deir el Balah from the air. A decision has not yet been made on whether to conduct a ground operation within them, mainly due to their high population density and the concentration of the military arm of Hamas and Islamic Jihad embedded within them.

It is likely that during the waiting period before the operation in Rafah, IDF forces will be required to destroy infrastructure in the heart of the refugee camps.

The border of the Gaza Strip

Over the past few months, IDF forces have been working to restore the border fence that was damaged on October 7 in dozens of locations. In addition, restoration, renovation, and rebuilding of IDF camps and outposts is also being performed. The IDF is building a buffer zone about a kilometer from the fence while removing Hamas infrastructure, including civilian homes that were used for terrorist activity. They are also installing security elements that will improve defense.

Already at this stage, there is criticism within the Gaza Division of the difference between the unequivocal instructions to open fire, led by the Southern Brigade Col. Tal Ashur, and the unclear instructions of the Northern Command Brigade, which are defined by some commanders as “hesitant and allowing terrorists to reach short range.

“In recent days, Hamas terrorists have been coming to the area of ​​the first line of houses to remove solar panels from the ruins in order to establish new outposts,” eyewitness Adi Raiyah told Walla! “They don’t have diesel or generators, so it’s an expensive product.”

Another criticism heard from the field is that the IDF rushed to repair and renovate the fence without considering a new approach that would improve the level of preparedness for similar attacks in the future by terror squads. An official source in the IDF stated, “First, we will restore our infrastructure to how it was. Later, we will see what can be improved or rebuilt. There will be resources and money for everything.”

Relocation efforts 

The IDF forces are operating to prevent the passage of Palestinians from north to south and primarily in the opposite direction in order to maintain control over the northern territories of the Gaza Strip and Gaza City as an isolated area, according to clear instructions by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who also instructed the IDF to relocate the Gaza population from areas in the center of the Gaza Strip to open the area to fighting without civilians.

There has been a significant improvement in the strategy, the technology, and the elements of defense, including activities that enable the inspection of Palestinians and facilitate the detection of terrorists among them.

“We must consider the day after when there will be enough time for terrorists to attack the areas that are not secured, and so in some cases, it is necessary to establish a Palestinian crossing without human contact. To protect the IDF soldiers,” a military official said.

The last and largest area: Rafah

At this stage, the IDF is targeting terrorists in Rafah from the air and, in exceptional cases, from the ground as well. There is an operation underway involving plans for a ground operation with the goal of dismantling Rafah battalions, some of which may be responsible for holding hostages, hiding senior Hamas officials, and smuggling weapons from the Sinai to the Gaza Strip.

The political echelon has not yet decided on a date, but sources in the IDF say that “this move is inevitable. It will happen, and all that remains to be decided is the strategy and the level of force.” Additionally, the director of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and in the Gaza Strip, Col. Moshe Tetro, is making a great effort to relocate Gaza’s population to “shelter areas,” even these days.

Simultaneously, Col. Tetro is planning, with his staff and officials from the Southern Command, the Intelligence Division, and the Shin Bet, a very large evacuation program from and within Rafah to enable the ground operation to move forward.

A security source said, “The planning is in its advanced stage. There is logic behind every action that the politicians direct. The IDF knows how to operate even in populated areas.”