The 98th Division has completed the encirclement of the neighborhood, which sits on the city’s northern coast, as part of the IDF’s renewed ground maneuver in Operation Gideon’s Chariots II.
The campaign aims to seize control of the densely built-up area and destroy its buildings and tunnel network. In recent weeks, soldiers from the IDF training base brigades and the 188th Armored Brigade evacuated some 200,000 Palestinians from nearby al-Atatra. Commanders reported the evacuation was faster than expected, preventing Hamas from planting roadside bombs before the IDF secured the area.
But in Shati itself, the military expects a very different fight. The camp, long transformed into a crowded urban district, is believed to house hundreds of Hamas terrorists, dozens of pre-prepared explosive sites, and a relatively high level of command-and-control infrastructure.
Commanders estimate many tunnels remain intact or have been rebuilt since Israel’s last maneuver, making the upcoming operation complex and lengthy. The army expects it may take as long as two and a half months to clear the tunnels and destroy the structures above them.
The IDF also believes Hamas’ Shati Battalion has regrouped and “learned lessons” from previous clashes, raising the likelihood of guerrilla ambushes and heavy mortar fire once Israeli troops move inside. Southern Command said the air force struck a Gaza City high-rise Sunday used by Hamas for military purposes, stressing precautions had been taken to minimize civilian casualties.
Commanders in the field say the presence of hostages remains a central concern. “Every company commander carries a notebook with the hostages’ names and photos,” officers from the training brigades told Ynet's Yoav Zitun, who joined them in Gaza. They stressed that while field intelligence shifts constantly, rules of engagement are carefully designed to avoid endangering captives.
Lt. Col. (res.) A., commander of a reconnaissance battalion who was wounded by sniper fire in Jabaliya and returned to the front, described the task ahead: “There are terrorists right beneath us, the same Nukhba terrorists who slaughtered in Zikim and the Gaza border communities on October 7. We must crush them from above and below, because every street here is a Hamas battlefield.”
He added that, despite limited guerrilla resistance so far, the dual goals of dismantling Hamas and rescuing hostages do not conflict. “The military pressure has already led to deals and successful rescues,” he said, vowing to keep up the fight “against an enemy that massacred and raped, and will only be stopped by comprehensive pressure until we achieve our goals.”