The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) completed several operations in northern Gaza in July. However, one operation in Beit Hanoun, a town near the Israeli border, is estimated to take another week. On July 7, five Israeli soldiers were killed there in a bombing and ambush that was carried out by Palestinian gunmen. In three weeks of fighting, the area now appears mostly cleared of threats, according to a recent Israeli media report.
According to officers who spoke to The Times of Israel, “the Hamas battalion in Beit Hanoun now only consists of a handful of operatives, and the vast majority of the terror group’s tunnels in the town have been demolished.” Colonel Netanel Shamaka, the commander of the Givati Infantry Brigade that has been fighting in the sector, said, “I believe that within a week we can finish, and what I mean by finish is that there are no more tunnels.”
The battle for Beit Hanoun occurred as several other developments were unfolding in Gaza. On July 26, the IDF began preparing air drops of humanitarian aid to the territory. In addition, the Israeli military began daylight pauses in fighting, essentially ceasefires over a large portion of Gaza. The daily ceasefires primarily affect the estimated 25 percent of Gaza that Hamas controls near the coast. At the same time, humanitarian aid is also being delivered by trucks into the territory as Israel attempts to facilitate an increase in assistance. The IDF said on July 30 that it was cooperating with the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt to improve “the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip.”
As the aid has increased on the ground, Israeli politicians have also been discussing the possibility of annexing part of Gaza if Hamas does not accept a new hostage deal. US Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on July 31, as the Trump administration encouraged more aid for Gaza. The aid crisis has also unfolded as Canada joined the UK and France in discussing the recognition of a Palestinian state.
On the ground in Gaza, the humanitarian shifts and daylight ceasefires have come as IDF units concluded several neighborhood-sized operations. The IDF’s 98th Division, which consists of commandos and paratroopers, completed its mission in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said on July 31. “For several months, troops of the 98th Division operated deep within the terror strongholds in the Gaza Strip, conducting combat activities in the areas of Khan Yunis, Shejaiya, and Zeitoun,” the IDF said. It noted that the 98th “focused on dismantling terrorist infrastructure and weapons, above and below ground.” Both Shejaiya and Zeitoun were the focus of IDF operations in 2024, and the 98th also fought in Shejaiya last June.
The IDF says that the 98th dismantled a total of over “1,500 terrorist infrastructure sites” in northern Gaza, and it believes “dozens” of terrorists were killed in the fighting. “The troops dealt a significant blow to Hamas’ Shejaiya Battalion, which had attacked the communities near the Gaza Strip on October 7,” the Israeli military stated.
Hamas is believed to have two brigades controlling northern Gaza: one in Gaza City and another in other neighborhoods. In late November 2023, the IDF assessed that it had already defeated most of the Hamas battalions in northern Gaza. However, many of these battalions appear to have recruited replacements since, and the IDF had to defeat them again in 2024 and 2025.
While the 98th Division was fighting in Shejaiya, the 99th and 162nd Divisions focused on clearing Beit Hanoun of terrorists over three weeks in July. “Hamas tried to fight from within the population and from tunnels—today it has nothing there anymore,” an IDF officer was quoted by Walla News. The operation’s goal was to completely clear the Gaza town, which is around a mile from the Israeli border town of Sderot. To remove the threat, most buildings in Beit Hanoun appear to have been demolished.
“Our operation was intended to create a significant security perimeter and make it very difficult for the enemy to return to its infrastructure. To do this, we had to act very thoroughly,” an IDF officer from the 99th told Walla News.
