Ben Gvir sharply criticized the decision to withdraw the army from the northern Gaza Strip and called for the occupation of the territory (Reuters)

Israeli circles expressed concern over what they said were attempts by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to regain control of the northern Gaza Strip, and Israeli National Defense Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the withdrawal of the army from the area a "grave and dangerous mistake."

Army Radio said on Tuesday there was a worrying trend in Israel's security establishment: Hamas was trying to restore civilian capabilities in the northern Gaza Strip.

After the end of the ground exercise in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli security services acknowledge Hamas' attempts to return its local police to the area and take control of it.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday sharply criticized the decision to withdraw the army from the northern Gaza Strip and called for the occupation of the Strip.

The leader of the far-right Jewish Power party said in a post on the X platform: "The cabinet (mini-cabinet) makes wrong decisions over and over again, leading to damage."

Ben Gvir added that "the decision to withdraw the Israeli army from Hamas centers in the Gaza Strip is a grave and dangerous mistake that will cost human lives."

"The barrage of rockets fired this morning at Netivot from an area that IDF forces left yesterday proves once again that the occupation of the Gaza Strip is necessary to achieve combat objectives," he said.

Ben Gvir said that the continuation of the war and the bypassing of the political-security government through the small government (the military cabinet) "is unacceptable to Jewish power."

Withdrawal of a division from the army

On Monday, Army Radio said the latter had decided to withdraw the 36th Division from the Gaza Strip, while three divisions continued to fight alongside the Special Forces, which are responsible for the northern Gaza coast.

The Israeli army carried out on Tuesday morning, new incursions in more than one axis in the governorates of Gaza and the north, amid clashes with the Palestinian resistance factions, hours after Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced the end of the intensive ground operation in the north.

Gallant said at a press conference on Monday, referring to the ground war: "In the northern area of the Gaza Strip, this phase will end. In southern Gaza, we will reach this milestone and it will end soon."

Explaining the third phase of the war, Galat added: "In both places the moment will come when we move on to the next phase. We adapt our field operations to the reality on the ground as we can see, according to military achievements, with the destruction of the enemy, and according to our intelligence."

The defense minister did not say whether the ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip had actually achieved its goals of eliminating Hamas.

But Israeli Army Radio noted that, for example, humanitarian aid trucks arriving in the northern Gaza Strip are already in the hands of Hamas.

"Hamas is working to regain control of the area, in light of the vacuum that has arisen there," she said.

The main concern in the security establishment is the possibility of Hamas succeeding in restoring its military capabilities in the region as well.

"It is remarkable the events of the last day in the northern Gaza Strip, in Beit Lahiya, the Israeli army seized 60 rockets ready to be launched, and in the beach camp the army forces killed 9 militants, and yesterday a barrage of about 10 rockets was fired from Beit Hanoun towards Sderot in the Gaza Strip," she said.

Army Radio military correspondent Doron Kadosh asked, "Didn't the decision to switch to targeted raids in the northern Gaza Strip come early, and was it better to leave an entire division to carry out a large-scale maneuver inside the area and not reduce its forces?"

"Why are we talking about the next day, when this day is already in the northern Gaza Strip," Kadosh said.

Since October 7, the Israeli army has waged a devastating war on Gaza, which as of Tuesday has left 24,285 dead, 61,154 injured, and caused the displacement of more than 85% (about 1.9 million people) of the Strip's population, according to the Palestinian authorities and the United Nations.

Israel has set three goals for the war: toppling Hamas' rule in Gaza, eliminating its military capabilities, and repatriating Israeli prisoners from Gaza, but to date it has not announced the achievement of any of these goals.

Source : Al Jazeera + Agencies