IDF’s new phase of operations in Gaza to include pinpoint raids, increased aid

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FDD's Long War Journal

Seth Frantzman

April 11, 2024

IDF soldiers operating in Gaza on April 10. (IDF)

A week and a half after Israeli forces withdrew from southern Gaza’s Khan Younis and it appeared the IDF was shifting gears to a new phase of operations, the IDF sent forces into areas of central Gaza and a neighborhood near Gaza City. The new tactic builds upon the raids Israel conducted into Shati, Zaytun and Shifa in March, which netted terrorist detainees and led to the elimination of Hamas members who had returned to northern Gaza. This is paired with an increased focus by Israel on facilitating humanitarian aid for Gaza.

On April 10 and 11, the IDF conducted a “targeted operation” in Nuseirat, one of the areas known as the “central camps” because it is an urban area that surrounds a former refugee camp. The area is next to Bureij and Maghazi, two other areas controlled by Hamas that are part of the central camps. The IDF used the 162^nd division, which is the only division left in Gaza. The raid included the 401^st Armored Brigade and also Nahal infantry who are securing the Netzarim corridor, a section of land running east-west across Gaza. Nuseirat borders the Netzarim corridor. A number of Hamas members from Nuseirat participated in the October 7 attack on Israel. The IDF and artillery carried out strikes on Hamas cells in the area.

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Along with the raids in Gaza, Israel is constructing a new “northern crossing” into Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant mentioned this crossing in a statement on April 10 in relation to increasing aid into Gaza. The crossing is apparently not the Erez crossing, which existed before October 6 but was damaged during the Hamas attack. The IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Unit (COGAT) is involved with this new crossing. The goal is to increase the number of aid trucks entering different parts of Gaza. Northern Gaza has been largely cut off from aid since the war began, and this has led to several stampedes and the subsequent deaths of civilians who have waylaid trucks trying to get aid. On April 10, the IDF said that 298 trucks entered Gaza and there was an airdrop with 353 packages. “Furthermore, yesterday (Wednesday), the Coordination and Liaison Administration for the Gaza Strip, together with the IDF Southern Command, coordinated the entry of 28 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF noted. In a separate post, COGAT said they had coordinated the repair of a water line in Bani Suheila, an area near Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The overall sense today is that the IDF is settling into a new routine in Gaza, one with a heavier focus on the humanitarian angle in addition to targeted raids. Israeli political leadership continues to debate an operation in Rafah, the southern city in Gaza on the Egyptian border. If the operation does proceed, there is much work to be done in preparation for such an operation.