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Military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi said that the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood (northern Gaza Strip) under the weight of resistance strikes was expected, stressing at the same time that the Strip’s tunnels are still a black box about 5 months after the start of the war on Gaza.
The occupation army radio had announced earlier that the army had withdrawn the Paratroopers Brigade from the Gaza Strip, and other forces had replaced it, while the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), controlled the battles in the Zaytoun neighborhood, and its fighters were inflicting losses on the occupation army.
In an analysis for Al Jazeera, Major General Al-Duwairi explained that the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood is still a major resistance stronghold in Gaza, and therefore the occupation army has returned to carry out military operations there in the hope of eliminating the battalions that have been in a state of constant clashes since the start of the ground operation in light of the occupation army’s repeated withdrawals from Region.
The military expert explained that on the first day of the attack, the Israeli army pushed a battalion from each brigade, and on the second day it pushed the rest of the force, which is the rest of the 401st Brigade and the Nahal Brigade, supported by 3 elite battalions and two companies from the Security Service and the Shin Bet, but in the end it was forced to start withdrawing due to the ferocity of the battle that was proven recently. Occupation Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
It is expected
Al-Duwairi pointed out that the occupation's withdrawal in loss under the weight of the resistance's strikes was expected, referring in this context to the Al-Qassam Brigades' leadership source speaking to Al-Jazeera about the brigades managing the battle of the Zaytoun neighborhood with full force and ability, and inflicting heavy losses on the occupation army's vehicles, officers, and soldiers.
Regarding the occupation army’s talk about its soldiers destroying tunnel openings in the Zaytoun neighborhood and finding many weapons, Al-Duwairi said that the tunnels that were found are not part of the network of tunnels designated for combat purposes, but rather they are tunnels prepared for other purposes, as confirmed by the nature and area of those tunnels.
He stressed that the tunnel network is still one of the secrets of the battle in Gaza that only those fighting inside it know, and it is still a black box whose secrets will never be revealed.
The American Wall Street Journal quoted Israeli soldiers as saying that the army had not found a systematic solution to find Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip, stressing that removing resistance fighters from the tunnels remains the biggest challenge for the Israeli army.
Source: Al Jazeera