Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Screengrab.
Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), said on November 2 that his troops are operating inside Gaza City and surrounding it from several directions.
“We have advanced another significant stage in the war. The forces are in the heart of northern Gaza, operating in Gaza City, surrounding it, and deepening [the ground offensive], and achievements,” Halevi said in a statement from an Air Force base.
“The forces are fighting in a dense and complex urban area that requires professional combat, and courage,” he added.
Halevi said that Israeli troops are engaged in close-quarters combat. “Ground forces are accompanied by accurate intelligence, with fire from the air and sea. This partnership makes combat much more effective,” he continued.
“Our warriors, fighting in close quarters against a cruel enemy, have a huge advantage: Camaraderie and battle spirit flow through their veins,” Halevi said. “The spirit of Israeli society and the justice of our cause accompany us at all times.”
The senior IDF commander acknowledged that the war has “a painful and difficult price,” with 19 troops being killed in the ground operation in Gaza so far.
“We lost the best of our sons in the war, we embrace their families… we will continue to win,” he said.
One of the last two casualties to be announced by the IDF was Lieutenant Colonel Salman Habaka, the commander of the 188th Armored Brigade’s 53rd “Sofa” Battalion. No further details were given on the circumstances of his death. However, it is very likely that his tank was destroyed. His battalion is only armed with advanced Merkava MK 4M tanks.
The IDF has been facing fierce resistance from the Hamas Movement and other Palestinian armed factions while attempting to advance from three directions: along al-Rasheed Street on the coast of Gaza; near the city of Beit Lahia in the northeastern part of the Strip; in Wadi Gaza, right to the south of Gaza City.
Since the morning, Hamas’ military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, reported attacks with rocket-propelled grenades against four tanks, three armored bulldozers, one armored personnel carrier and five other military vehicles of the IDF.
Al-Qassam also said that its fighters shot and killed three soldiers near one of the targeted tanks and hit three gatherings of troops.
From its side, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the al-Aqsa Brigades, said that its fighters ambushed a group of Israeli troops and attacked several gatherings of manpower and equipment in Gaza.
Rocket attacks from Gaza also continued, with sirens sounding at the city of Beersheba and the nearby town of Hatzerim in the southern Negev region as well as in the city of Tel Aviv and nearby areas in the central region. No casualties were reported, however.
Meanwhile, the death toll from Israel’s continuous strikes on Gaza has risen again. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, at least 9,061 Palestinian have been killed in the Strip since the war broke out. 3,760 children and 2,326 women are among the dead. More than 22,219 others have been wounded.
Fighting in Gaza will intensify in coming days as the IDF works to expand its control within the Strip. The first phase of the ongoing ground operation aims to besiege then occupy the northern part of Gaza. Israeli troops will later advance south, More than Two million Palestians could end up trapped along the border with Egypt if the operation succeeds.
