‘The surprise was complete’: IDF wraps up weeks-long Jabaliya raid with 600 arrested terrorists, 50,000 evacuated residents

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday that it had withdrawn some troops involved in the weeks-long extensive raid on the Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza, where dozens of terrorists were killed and hundreds captured.

While the Givati ​​and 401st Brigades continued to besiege central Jabaliya, where hundreds are still estimated to be hiding, the IDF said that it withdrew 460th Brigade troops after the area was almost completely evacuated of its residents over the past several weeks.

The Israeli military employed a new strategy of rapid, overnight surprise encirclement to capture hundreds of terrorists within the area. “The surprise for Hamas was complete,” an IDF source told the Maariv newspaper.

“We imprisoned hundreds of terrorists inside the camp, including senior ones. Hamas held the population as a shield for more than a week, it shot the legs of residents who tried to leave.”

The Givati ​​and 401st Brigades surrounded the camp, while the 460th Brigade raided schools and shelters, killing or capturing terrorists while allowing civilians to leave the area. According to reports, about 5,000 residents evacuated during the first day.

The next day, the source said that 20,000 had fled, as the civilians’ “barrier of fear” was broken. Overall, some 50,000 civilians left Jabaliya and headed south, toward the humanitarian zone.

By establishing set checkpoints to “drain” the entrapped population under thorough security checks, the IDF managed to capture around 600 terrorists, some of whom surrendered during the siege.

As part of the massive raid, the 460th Brigade also encircled the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, which was then raided by the IDF’s elite Naval Commando unit, Shayetet 13.

Intelligence indicated that many terrorists were hiding out in the hospital that had been turned into a command-and-control center. Once again, the troops began by removing the civilians, ultimately capturing 40 terrorists hiding among them.

Next, the navy commandos entered the compound, killing around 20 and arresting about 60 terrorists inside. Among the detainees was a terrorist suspected to have taken part in the Oct. 7 massacre, and who had pretended to be a hospital staffer.

“Hamas military operatives are present [in the Kamal Adwan Hospital]; they are in the courtyards, at the gates of the building, in the offices. They are using ambulances to transport their wounded fighters,” an ambulance driver arrested on suspicion of terror involvement told IDF investigators.

The IDF said it found weapons, terror funds and intelligence documents in and around the hospital.

Soldiers involved in the Jabaliya operation told Maariv that the remaining Hamas terrorists are now less organized, primarily relying on booby traps and hit-and-run tactics as their fighting strategy.

“These are not the battalions and companies they were there a year ago, at the beginning of the fighting. They are on the verge of breaking. They have lower fighting ability. We didn’t see 600 terrorists raise their hands at the beginning,” one soldier said.

Meanwhile, lower-intensity operations continued in other parts of the Gaza Strip. Troops of the 252nd Division continued targeted raids in the center of the enclave, killing several terrorists and destroying a military structure in the area.

In the south, the Nahal Brigade eliminated armed terrorists and destroyed terrorist infrastructure in the Rafah area.