The Second Battle of Shuja'iyya was a military battle between

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and the

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

-led Palestinian forces during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which ended in an Israeli withdrawal. Fought from 27 June 2024 to 10 July 2024, it was the second engagement between the two sides in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of

Gaza City Gaza (;''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (1998), , p. 761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory in Palestine, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza...". ar, غَزَّة ', ), also referred to as Gaza City, i ...

Background

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had begun an ongoing general siege of Gaza City on 2 November 2023 as part of the

Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip On the evening of 27 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a large-scale invasion inside the Gaza Strip, as part of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, with the stated goal of destroying Hamas and overthrowing it. Background Aft ...

, itself a response to the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel which began the war. The first battle at Shuja'iyya began on 4 December 2023 and ended on 26 December 2023 with the IDF withdrawing after facing fierce Palestinian resistance and failing to push out Hamas from the area. Israel claimed that it had dismantled

in the region in December, but militants continued to attack Israeli forces and maintained a strong presence in the area. This resulted in Israel attacking Shuja'iyya once again in late June.

Battle

The IDF began a second invasion of Shuja'iyya on 27 June 2024 with a combined

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

and

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

assault, ordering Palestinian civilians to go south; however, it was reported that the route southwards was blocked by the IDF. These operations were led by the 98th Division with medics and witnesses saying the assault had caused numerous casualties. Israeli bombing of the neighbourhood resulted in widespread destruction, causing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee the attack, while the UN estimated that up to 80,000 Palestinians were displaced from the area. Hamas and its ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad responded to the invasion with guerilla attacks,

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

fire, and

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

attacks on IDF positions. On 4 July, in operations conducted by Palestinian militants in the city, an Israeli officer was killed while three others were seriously injured. On 12 July, it was reported that the IDF had managed to kill the deputy head of the Hamas battalion in Shuja'iyya, Ayman Showadeh, who was involved in leading the October 2023 attack on Israel. The Israeli army stated that it had destroyed 8 tunnels during the battle, and on 10 July, Israel retreated from the neighbourhood, with Palestinian militants returning to their positions.

Aftermath

Families among the tens of thousands displaced by Israeli actions in Shuja'iyya began to return following the end of the battle but reported widespread destruction and that nearly every building in the neighbourhood had been destroyed. Gazan officials working for the native government in Gaza returned to the neighbourhood immediately following the Israeli withdrawal and found more than 60 bodies. It was reported that the neighborhood had "become a disaster area that is not suitable for habitat", with 85% of the

residential buildings A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

there destroyed by the IDF. A family reported that the IDF had raided their Shuja'iyya home on July 3 and attacked their family member, Muhammed Bhar, with a combat dog. According to the family, the IDF promised to treat Bhar, who had

Down Syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

, and ordered the rest of the family to leave at gunpoint. After the IDF withdrawal, the family said that they returned to find Bhar dead on the floor.

References

{{Israel-Hamas war Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip Gaza City in the Israel–Hamas war Shuja'iyya December 2023 events in Asia Battles in 2023