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Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip continue to put on fierce resistance, inflicting losses on the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and even forcing it to withdraw more units from the battlefield.
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas Movement -which rules over Gaza-, released on February 28 a video showing its fighters targeting Israeli main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers with rocket-propelled grenades and explosive devices in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood in the northern part of the Strip.
The footage also shows an attack with mortars on IDF gatherings in the neighborhood and an Israeli military helicopter evacuating wounded troops.
And on February 29, the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad -the second largest faction in Gaza after Hamas-, released a video showing a recent attack with a heavy explosive device in Zeitoun which killed two Israeli officers and wounded seven others as well as several attacks with rocket-propelled grenades against Israeli main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers in the neighborhood.
On the same day, the Mujahideen Brigades -one of the smallest factions in Gaza- released footage showing a series of rocket attacks that targeted IDF gatherings in Gaza City as well as Israeli settlements close to the Strip.
In what appears to be an attempt to cut losses, the IDF announced on February 29 that it had withdrawn the Paratroopers Brigade from Gaza.
The Bislamach Brigade -the IDF’s School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders- will replace the Paratroopers Brigade in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The IDF will decide in the coming days where the Paratroopers Brigade will be sent next, according to Hebrew media.
The IDF has lost 242 troops since the beginning of ground operations in Gaza. More than 1,300 others have been reportedly wounded in the Strip, some of whom are still in a life-threatening condition.
On the Palestinian side, the death toll from the war has exceeded 30,000, with women and children making the vast majority of the victimes.
Despite withdrawing several units from Gaza in recent months, the IDF is reportedly preparing to launch a large-scale offensive in the area of Rafah in southern Gaza. More than one million Palestinians -roughly half of the Strip’s population, are taking shelter in the area, which is located right on the border with Egypt.
