IDF Captures Jabaliya Neighborhood, Detains 500 Suspected Hamas Fighters
After weeks of fierce, close-quarters combat, Brigadier General Itzik Cohen, commander of the 162nd Division, said on Tuesday that his troops had taken control of Gaza City’s Jabaliya neighborhood, apprehending 500 suspected Hamas fighters in the process.
Cohen emphasized achieving “operational control” over the former Hamas stronghold, stating, “Jabaliya is not the Jabaliya it used to be; we killed hundreds of terrorists in Jabaliya and arrested around 500 suspects in terror activities, some of whom took part in the events of October 7.”
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According to the IDF, 70 of the 1,500 terrorists involved in the October 7 attack lived in Jabaliya. Israeli estimates suggest that over 1,000 Hamas fighters were killed during the operations, with an additional 3,500 Palestinians detained, including 500 highly suspected of direct involvement in Hamas activities. Military authorities allege that some operatives surrendered in civilian buildings like hospitals and schools.
Some Palestinians arrested over the previous weeks have raised claims of mistreatment and arbitrary detention. They asserted being held without water, stripped of clothes, and dropped off along Gaza’s northern border without IDs or cellphones after being cleared despite having no affiliation with Hamas. The IDF denied that detainees were not given water.
Responding to the reports, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari refuted the allegations, explaining that detainees are permitted to put their clothes back on after being questioned and checked for explosives. If there were instances where this protocol was not followed by Israeli soldiers, military leadership was taking steps to insure such a lapse would not occur again, Hagari added.
On Tuesday, Hagari revealed that over 1,500 underground tunnel shafts had been discovered beneath Gaza since the war began. In a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the IDF alleged that “most of these have been found beneath schools, hospitals, mosques, [United Nations] facilities and civilian institutions.”
