GAZA, (PIC)
On the second day of the blessed Eid Al-Fitr, the Israeli occupation forces launched a military operation in the vicinity of Al-Nusairat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip. They carried out dozens of airstrikes and intense artillery bombardment, only to be met with resilient resistance emerging from the rubble.
The PIC correspondent reports that the operation has been ongoing for two days, with Palestinian resistance engaging in fierce battles against the invading forces in the vicinity of the camp, as well as in the areas of Maghazi, Zahraa, and Wadi Gaza Bridge.
Attack amidst fierce clashes
The Israeli occupation army has initiated a new aggression on Al-Nusairat and the central area of the Gaza Strip, employing airstrikes and naval bombardment.
The occupation forces targeted dozens of houses, agricultural lands, mosques, and schools. The fragments of missiles reached the shelters in Al-Nusairat, and the sounds of explosions echoed throughout the central Gaza Strip.
Local sources reported that the Israeli occupation aircraft launched several intensive airstrikes and fire belts simultaneously with artillery shelling in northern Al-Nusairat. Medical sources reported multiple injuries arriving at Al-Awda Hospital as a result of the brutal aggression.
However, the Israeli attack did not go smoothly as expected by its leaders in the devastated neighborhoods. The occupation army faced fierce resistance from the defenders of their land and people.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing helicopters landing in the area, presumably to evacuate casualties, after a significant Israeli force fell into a well-prepared ambush by the Palestinian resistance.
Meanwhile, Al-Quds Brigades announced its control over a quadcopter aircraft that was on a reconnaissance mission in the area.
Targeting civilians and mosques
Ten martyrs were reported, and a civilian was injured due to the Israeli targeting of the new camp in Al-Nusairat. The Israeli aircraft carried out intense airstrikes and fire belts in the northern outskirts of Al-Nusairat and the surrounding area of Wadi Gaza.
The Israeli forces targeted the Al-Nurain Mosque in Abu Ghulah land to the west, as well as the Moa’az bin Jabal Mosque in the Darwish family land to the north of the camp. They also targeted the minaret of the Hassan al-Banna Mosque in the new camp.
Israeli tanks penetrated the northern area of Al-Nusairat from the direction of Salah Al-Din Street and Al-Maghraqa amidst helicopter gunfire. They destroyed a large number of residential towers in the city of Al-Zahra.
The Israeli forces further destroyed more residential towers in the city of Al-Zahra north of Al-Nusairat. They also targeted the fishermen’s port and its surroundings west of Gaza City.
Fake withdrawal
The Israeli occupation army announced a few days ago the withdrawal of all ground forces from the Gaza Strip, including the 98th Brigade with its three battalions from the Khan Yunis area, after four months of fierce fighting. Only the Nahal Brigade in the Netzarim corridor, which separates the north from the center and south, remained in Gaza.
Israeli media outlets stated at the time that the withdrawal of the 98th Brigade from Khan Yunis was part of preparations for an operation in Rafah and had no connection to the pressure exerted by the United States on Israel.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, citing sources in the Israeli army, one of the reasons for the withdrawal was to leave places for the displaced who would be asked to leave Rafah, according to their claims.
Escape from the grip of the pliers
Military expert and strategist Colonel Hatem Karim al-Falahi said that the Israeli operation in the Netzarim axis in central Gaza Strip was not a surprise, as claimed by the Israeli forces.
He expected that it aimed to counter potential threats, as the axis had become the area between the jaws of the resistance factions.
Al-Falahi explained in a military analysis on Al Jazeera that the new Israeli operation could not be described as a surprise after encountering resistance and failing to surpass Wadi Gaza amidst ongoing clashes and confrontations.
He pointed out that this operation cannot be compared to the Flood of Al-Aqsa operation and the sudden attack on the barracks, bases, and settlements near the Gaza Strip in October of the previous year. He added that it might fall within the framework of transitioning to the third phase of the war, characterized by less intensity but more qualitative operations.
He emphasized that the Israeli forces have become besieged in the Netzarim axis, which is 6 kilometers long, between the jaws of the resistance north and south. Therefore, the Israeli forces are trying to secure this axis after being heavily shelled by mortar shells in recent days.
According to Al-Falahi, this axis is a deadly trap because the forces present in it can be surrounded by the resistance factions on both sides.
