The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli government told the Supreme Court that the army is still facing resistance in Gaza from underground and above it.
While the debate in Israel about future control over the Gaza Strip continues both in public opinion and in decision-making rooms, in another response to the Supreme Court that discussed the petition surrounding the issue of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, ‘Israel does not retain effective control over the territory of the Gaza Strip.’
According to the language of the response, “To this day, Hamas has the ability to exercise its governmental powers in the Strip,” according to what was reported by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
This came in an additional response to a petition submitted by organizations including Gisha – Center for the Protection of the Right to Movement, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and Physicians for Human Rights, which filed a petition against the state due to the humanitarian situati
on in the Gaza Strip during the war.
The judges have already held several discussions on the issue in recent months and are periodically briefed on the situation in the Gaza Strip, but have not yet decided on the fate of the petition.
According to the state’s updated response, “it can be said in short that the IDF presence at this time is limited, both in terms of its nature and in terms of its deployment in the designated areas within the Gaza Strip, which does not allow for effective oversight and the exercise of governmental authority within them.”
‘Throughout the war, IDF forces operated in various areas of the Gaza Strip according to a concrete military need for a limited period of time, and then withdrew from them shortly thereafter. This was during IDF operations in the northern Gaza Strip in the first months of the war, and during its operations in the Khan Yunis area and the Rafah area,’
the report said. ‘Throughout the war, IDF forces did not remain for long in areas of the Gaza Strip where ther
e was a significant civilian presence, and were unable to effectively control the areas where they operated… Philadelphi. These are areas where there is no Gaza population at all, and therefore do not give Israel effective control.’
‘We must add to this that in the context of operational activities, IDF forces continue to encounter armed resistance from enemy forces, underground and above ground, through the planting of explosive devices, anti-tank fire, sniper fire, shooting from steep paths, rocket fire, attempts to lure our forces into besieged homes, and more,’ she added, noting that this resistance has been a feature of the fighting in all areas of the Strip since October, and that the fierce battles in the Strip have left heavy losses, including more than 300 IDF soldiers killed since the beginning of the war, and thousands of IDF soldiers wounded.
It was said that “Israel dealt a serious blow to Hamas and its military capabilities, but these capabilities have not yet been ruled out, and violent confr
ontations continue.”
According to them, ‘Hamas is once again active in the areas from which the Israeli army withdrew and is trying to rebuild its strength there,’ as ‘to this day, Hamas has the ability to exercise its governing powers in the Strip and continues to seek to exercise its powers while investing many efforts and resources. This effort is expressed on several levels, the most important of which are: ‘drawing up policy, activating security mechanisms, and establishing new security apparatuses to deal with public order, with the aim of receiving aid and allocating it to the movement’s needs, the flow of funds into the Strip, and distributing salaries and distributing aid.’
The response stated that ‘Hamas is again trying to re-establish itself in the areas where the IDF is maneuvering, to the point that it has forced the IDF to return and operate in those areas. It is clear that Hamas is constantly working to try to quickly restore its infrastructure in the areas where the IDF is maneuvering, and t
o allow for its rapid return to government and military activity after the IDF withdraws and with the return of residents to the area. As is clear, and as was presented in detail during the procedure, especially in the discussions that took place as one party, under the current fighting conditions in the Gaza Strip, Israel does not maintain ‘effective control’ over the area.’
Source: Maan News Agency