By Ali Karbalaei

Israeli troops withdraw under Palestinian fire

January 2, 2024 - 21:56
Regime pulls out units of Israeli military from Gaza amid fierce clashes with the resistance 

TEHRAN- Residents of the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City have told news media outlets that the Israeli army has withdrawn from the area after what they described as the most intense ten days of combat between the Palestinian resistance and the regime's military since the Israeli war on the enclave began.

The Israeli military has also pulled its tanks out of Gaza City's districts of Mina and Tel al-Hawa.

Gaza City is located in the northern strip and it is where the Israeli army first began its ground offensives in the enclave after initially bombarding the region indiscriminately, in particular the north, for 20 days to try and clear the path for its ground forces to invade.

Three months later, the Israeli regime claimed to have been in control of the northern part of the Gaza Strip. 

News emerging from the north indicates that the resistance has inflicted heavy losses on Israeli ground forces, compelling them to withdraw against their will. 

According to residents of Gaza City, the regime's tanks have retained some positions in the suburb where they are occupying the Gaza City’s main road leading out of Gaza and where residents used to head to the south. 

This is the same road which has been deserted since the war started after Israeli warplanes repeatedly bombed it, rendering it out of service. 

This shows the regime's failure to defeat the resistance, despite widespread claims by its military and government officials that the northern part of Gaza is under Israeli control.

These claims have all turned out to be fake propaganda and depict a heavy failure for the regime that initially stated Hamas command centers and its leaders were "hiding" in the north. 

It also reflects the truth of the Palestinian resistance when it was regularly announcing that its fighters were "fiercely resisting" the Israeli ground forces in northern Gaza. 

On Sunday, the regime's WallaNews website reported that the Israeli army is withdrawing its 551st Brigade, the 14th Brigade, and three reservist brigades from Gaza following an assessment of the fighting there. 

Israeli media reports also alluded to a significant retreat by the regime's forces in the northwest of Gaza City. 

More than a week ago, one of the regime's oldest and most decorated units, the 13th Golani Brigades, was pulled out from the fighting, mainly in northern Gaza, after more than 72 of its troops were killed in combat.

The decision to withdraw the Golani unit came after the Palestinian resistance inflicted heavy losses on it.

Experts say the regime has also taken into account that the fatalities included a number of its most senior commanders.

In its latest statement, Hamas's armed wing, the al-Qassam brigades, announced that during the past four days, the resistance fighters have been able to completely or partially destroy 71 military vehicles.

According to its spokesman Abu Ubeida,  the al-Qassam brigades have "killed 16 Zionist soldiers and carried out 42 military missions that left a number of enemy soldiers dead and wounded."

In the neighborhoods of al-Daraj and al-Tuffah in Gaza City (where the Israeli regime claims to be in control of), the al-Qassam brigades announced that its resistance fighters were able, in the space of 48 hours, to target 26 Israeli military vehicles.

The number of Israeli military vehicles that the Palestinian resistance has partially or completely destroyed has reached around 1,000. 

Al-Qassam said it had detonated a minefield against Israeli special forces after entering the makeshift Hebron military base east of the al-Tuffah neighborhood, where the resistance "confirmed that 15 Zionist soldiers were killed in the operation, while Israeli ambulances and helicopters were seen rushing to transport the dead and wounded."
To the east of the neighborhood, the al-Qassam Brigades targeted five Israeli vehicles and blew up a tunnel where a number of occupation soldiers had been holed up inside, leaving them dead and wounded, according to Hamas. 

Likewise, al-Qassam says its resistance fighters attacked a site where Israeli military vehicles had gathered with Tandem shells and anti-personnel bombs, which "led to the killing and wounding of a number of them", in addition to taking control of an Israeli drone that was on an intelligence mission in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

In turn, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the al-Quds brigades, announced that an Israeli tank and an Israeli caterpillar D9 military bulldozer were targeted with tandem and RPG shells in the same areas.

The operation by Palestinian Islamic Jihad highlights a strong level of coordination between its armed wing and the armed wing of Hamas. 

As Israeli frustration with its failure to take control of the north grows, the regime has, in recent weeks, turned its attention to the south and in particular the city of Khan Younis and its surrounding areas. 

Al-Qassam says its fighters have targeted three Israeli soldiers with an anti-personnel missile, killing and wounding them in the town of al-Qarara, just north of Khan Younis. 

Reports suggest the resistance fighters also detonated a booby-trapped tunnel where Israeli ground troops entered the same town, in addition to detonating a house that had been previously booby-trapped with explosive devices after a number of occupation soldiers were holed up inside, causing fatalities and injuries.

Furthermore, in al-Qarara, the al-Qassam brigades targeted yet another Merkava tank with an Al-Yassin 105 shell. 

Smaller Palestinian resistance factions have also been in action. 

The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the al-Nasser brigades, has reportedly targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and vehicles in the city of Khan Yunis with a barrage of heavy-caliber mortar shells.

Also, the Mujahideen Brigades said their resistance forces in Khan Yunis bombed a gathering of "enemy soldiers and military vehicles east of Khan Yunis" with medium-caliber mortar shells, leading to "direct and certain casualties".

Meanwhile, in the central Gaza Strip, al-Qassam said its forces succeeded in sniping an Israeli soldier east of the Bureij refugee camp and confirmed his death. 

Al-Qassam also announced that its resistance fighters set up a complex ambush in the refugee camp, killing and wounding an Israeli force and targeting an Israeli Merkava tank, with the resistance fighters returning safely to their bases.

For its part, the al-Quds brigades targeted an Israeli troop carrier with a Tandem shell in the same camp where Israeli ground forces are trying to advance. 

The al-Quds brigades has also announced that it targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and vehicles with Badr 1 missiles in the al-Taqaddum area, east of the camp.

The fate of the Israeli army in the south of the Gaza Strip appears to be leading to the same destiny as the Israeli army experienced in the north of Gaza.