IDF Takes Control of Government Facilities and Largest Refugee Camp in Gaza
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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on the 14th (local time) that they have occupied key facilities in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, including the Hamas Parliament, government buildings, and police headquarters.
The Israeli army said that their 7th Armored Division and Golani Infantry Division forces had occupied several Hamas government facilities in Sheikh Ijleen and Rimal, near Gaza City, according to Times of Israel (TOI) and other reports.
Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Defense Minister, also said in a briefing that evening, “The Israeli army has taken over the ground area of northern Gaza Strip, especially Gaza City.”
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In the photos posted on social media that day, soldiers from the Golani Infantry Division, who had occupied the military police headquarters in the Gaza Strip, were holding the Israeli flag and the 13th Battalion flag of the Golani Division. The previous day, photos showing Golani Division soldiers inside the Gaza Strip Parliament building were also circulated through social media.
The Israeli army also occupied other locations used by Hamas for a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, including the Gaza Strip’s governor’s mansion, where Hamas military and police and the Hamas intelligence office are located.
In addition, the Israeli army took over a Hamas compound facility that houses training bases, command centers, interrogation rooms, and detention rooms. The IDF said that the university engineering building attacked by the Israeli army played a role as a research institute for weapons production and development.
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Along with this, the Israeli army announced through X (former Twitter) that the 162nd Division had occupied entirely the Al-Shati refugee camp, one of the key strongholds of Hamas. They explained that they had occupied this area after fighting with about 200 Hamas members at least four times over several hours in the Al-Shati refugee camp that day.
This area, a major base for Hamas, was the headquarters of a Hamas cell organization involved in the massacre in southern Israel on the 7th of last month, and the Israeli army said that many of Hamas’s basic facilities and troops were concentrated inside the refugee camp.
TOI explained that this refugee camp, where about 150,000 residents who had fled in anticipation of Israeli airstrikes live, is crowded with houses. Al-Shati is located to the west of Rimal, an upscale residential area in the Gaza Strip where many Hamas leaders live, and is only about 1.24 miles (2km) away from Al-Shifa Hospital, which is rumored to be a hiding place for the Hamas headquarters.
By. Ha Man Joo
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