Why did Israel once again intensify its military operations in devastated northern Gaza?

The Israeli army intensified its air and ground operations in the devastated north of Gaza, with troops surrounding Jabaliya and surrounding areas.

The stated objective is destroy the operational capabilities that Hamas is trying to rebuild and for that the army has ordered residents to evacuate the area.

the army he surrounded the city of Jabaliya since Sunday and reported that Division 162 began operations.

Gaza’s civil defense agency said that in the area there were dozens of deaths due to the bombings of recent days.

The army claims having killed at least “20 terrorists”while Hamas maintains that its fighters harass Israeli soldiers and tanks.

On Monday, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee issued a warning on social media, urging residents of the northern towns of Beit Hanun, Jabaliya, Beit Lahia and other neighborhoods to evacuate to southern Gaza.

Israeli forces “They are currently operating intensively in the area”Adraee wrote in Arabic.

Although some civilians have fled the north since the start of the operation, many have chosen to stay due to lack of safe alternativessaid Tariq Dana, a specialist in Palestinian politics at the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies.

“Despite widespread destruction of infrastructure and severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel, hundreds of thousands of people remained,” Dana said.

Reserve Brigadier General Amir Avivi, founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum think tank, suggested that those who remain in Gaza will face great danger.

“If citizens choose to stay in the middle of a war zone, it is dangerous,” he told AFP.

A plan for Gaza written by retired Major General Giora Eiland suggests evacuating civilians could be followed by a siege and total blockade until the combatants surrender.

Although that plan is not official army policy, analysts suggested that the idea of ​​a total siege of northern Gaza is gaining ground.

“I think what we will see in areas (from) where citizens were actually evacuated to the south (is that) the IDF (the armed forces) they will be able to impose a siege”, Avivi said.

The blockade would include “making sure that humanitarian aid does not arrive,” to force the fighters to surrender, he added.

Dana meanwhile fears that evacuations pcan lead to permanent displacement and the loss of territory in the Gaza Strip.

“It appears that Israel intends to create long-term demographic changes through displacement to fully colonize Gaza,” he said.

Avivi said Hamas units have been reduced to small, isolated bands in the north. “They are really operating very locallywith small groups of three, four terrorists, maybe eight at most, in a way that is not very coordinated,” he told AFP.

“Their capabilities are degrading all the time,” he added, pointing to rocket fire from Gaza on Monday, which he called small compared to a year ago.