IDF asserts control over areas of Gaza, returns hostage bodies

Israeli soldiers operating in Gaza in early June. (IDF)

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued consolidating control over areas in various parts of Gaza during the second week of June. The IDF is involved in a multi-month operation called Gideon’s Chariots, which began in May. Most of the operation has concentrated on gaining control over areas the IDF retook in Gaza since mid-March. Some of these areas, such as Khan Younis in southern Gaza, were previously cleared of terrorists by the IDF in early 2024. As part of operations, the IDF returned the bodies of several hostages. There are now 53 hostages remaining in Gaza, around half of whom may be alive.

Israeli military operations in Gaza take the form of several key missions. First, the IDF is continuing to carry out airstrikes on terrorists. Second, the IDF is clearing areas by demolishing buildings and tunnels used by terrorists in the past. Third, the IDF continues to secure a perimeter around areas used to distribute humanitarian aid.

On June 11, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office released a statement saying that the bodies of two hostages had been returned to Israel. It named one of them as Yair Yaakov, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. The statement said he was abducted by the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The name of the second deceased was not disclosed. The return of the two corpses follows the IDF finding the body of Nattapong Pinta, a Thai worker who was also kidnapped by Hamas, on June 7.

On June 7, the Israeli military said it eliminated “the terrorist As’ad Abu Sharaiya who served during the last years as the head of the Mujahideen terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.” Israel accused Sharaiya and his group of being behind the kidnappings of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, as well as the abductions of two Americans, Gad Haggai and Judi Lynn. All of these individuals were killed in Gaza. The strike on Sharaiya is one of several precision strikes the IDF has carried out in recent days. The Israeli military also said on June 12 that it struck “Hamas terrorists who were operating in a structure in the Shati area in central Gaza that was being used as a weapons production facility.”

Another activity the IDF continues to conduct in Gaza is attempting to illustrate how Hamas has exploited hospitals and other civilian institutions and activities in the territory. For instance, on June 5, the Israeli military said it targeted members of Islamic Jihad who were “operating under the guise of journalists.” It asserted that the men were at a compound “in the courtyard of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital.” In another statement, the IDF said that “the spokesperson for the Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Zabar Tafesh Bassal, is an active terrorist in the Hamas terrorist organization.” The IDF also showed footage of a Hamas tunnel under the European Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where Hamas’s Gaza leader, Mohammed Sinwar, was killed in May.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the group that has been delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza via three distribution sites in areas the IDF controls, said on June 12 that it had distributed 2.6 million meals. This update brings the total to 19 million meals distributed in roughly two weeks of operations. The group says that its aid workers, who are local people from Gaza, were attacked, and at least eight were killed overnight between June 11 and 12. For its part, Hamas claimed to have attacked a local militia in Gaza that is backed by Israel. The full details of both incidents require additional investigation.

As the IDF works to secure areas around where the GHF distributes food, the military published a report on how Hamas “developed several methods to exploit the aid it had stolen.” This effort is designed to contrast the role of Hamas in areas it controls with the new humanitarian initiative. The IDF says that “throughout the war, Hamas decided that varying portions (ranging from 15% to over 25%) of the humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip would be automatically diverted to the terrorist organization.” In addition, the group engaged in smuggling and “received hundreds of millions of shekels in the Gaza Strip from Iran and other funding sources.”

Israeli units also continued to carry out large-scale operations. The 36th Division, operating in southern Gaza, found an underground tunnel, the IDF said on June 7. The Golani Reconnaissance Battalion, which is part of the 36th Division, carried out an operation near the European Hospital. The 188th Armored Brigade, operating in Khirbat Ikhzaa inside Gaza near the Israeli border, eliminated 1,200 terrorist infrastructure sites, the IDF said. In addition, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir visited the IDF’s 252nd Division and 646th Brigade in Gaza.

Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDD’s Long War Journal. He is the senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post, and author of The October 7 War: Israel's Battle for Security in Gaza (2024).

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