On 4 April 2025, Israel began a ground offensive into the

Shuja'iyya Shuja'iyya (), also ''Shejaiya'', ''Shijaiyeh'', ''Shujayya'', ''Shuja'ia'', ''Shuja'iya'', is the southern quarter of Old City of Gaza, and the only quarter of the Old City located outside the historical city walls. It is one of the largest neig ...

neighborhood of

Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...

, as part of its renewed military operations in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

following the resumption of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

18 March Events Pre-1600 * 37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ''(aka Caligula = Little Boots)'' emperor.Tacitus, ''Annals'' V.10. *1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Ara ...

. It marks the third time Israel invades the neighborhood during the war, following battles in 2023 and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Background

A ceasefire that halted fighting in the Gaza war between Israel and

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

was implemented on 19 January 2025, but collapsed on 18 March after an Israeli surprise attack on the Gaza Strip. Following the war's resumption, Israel partially retook the Netzarim Corridor and renewed its

Rafah offensive On 6 May 2024, Israel began a military offensive in and around the city of Rafah as part of Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present), its invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war. In early May, as ceasefire negotiations stal ...

. On 3 April,

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

(IDF) spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin announced that it has begun a “new stage” designed to return the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and destroy the militant group's "

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and governing capabilities.” That same day, an Israeli bombardment of Shuja'iyya killed at least 37 people.

Timeline

4 April

The IDF launched the ground operation in the morning with the intent of expanding the Israeli buffer zone along the Gaza border, saying that

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

civilians had been allowed to evacuate Shuja'iyya. The IDF also reported it destroyed a Hamas command-and-control centre during its assault. A woman and her daughter were killed in an Israeli artillery attack targeting displaced people in the neighborhood.

5 April

Israeli forces halted the flow of water from Israeli company

Mekorot Mekorot (, lit. "Sources") is the national water company of Israel and the country's top agency for water management. Founded in 1937, it supplies Israel with approx. 80% of its drinking water and operates a cross-country water supply network kno ...

to the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting off 70% of Gaza's total water supply and affecting Gaza's main pipeline, located in Shuja'iyya. One Palestinian was killed following artillery shelling in the al-Salem Mosque.

6 April

Palestinian Islamic Jihad The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), commonly known simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary organization formed in 1981. PIJ formed as an offsh ...

(PIJ) stated that its Al-Quds Brigades fighters destroyed an Israeli military vehicle in the neighborhood.

9 April

Israel struck a residential building in Shuja'iyya with multiple bombs. Additionally, eight houses around the building were destroyed by the bombardment, killing at least 35 Palestinians, injuring over 70, and leaving over 20 missing. Israel claimed to have targeted a senior Hamas militant, without providing their name.

10 April

The IDF stated that Haytham Sheikh Khalil, the commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades' Shuja'iyya Battalion, was the militant killed in the previous day's airstrike, and claimed that the residential building was in reality a command-and-control centre.

12 April

Palestinians in Shuja'iyya were reported to be "trapped", with Israeli tanks surrounding the neighborhood. Sources from the ground also reported that the IDF was shooting whoever was moving or trying to move from one place to another. Al-Qassam Brigades militants ambushed Israeli soldiers in Shuja'iyya, resulting in two casualties and several injuries, while the Al-Quds Brigades announced their killing of an Israeli sniper atop Al-Muntar Hill, which overlooks the neighborhood.

15 April

Israel said it launched an airstrike on Shuja'iyya that killed the new commander of the Shuja'iyya Battalion, Muhammad al-‘Ajlah, a week after his predecessor Khalil had been killed.

25 April

Clashes between the IDF and the Al-Qassam Brigades were reported in Shuja'iyya, resulting in the killing of one IDF soldier and one Israeli police officer.

3 May

An Israeli airstrike on the neighborhood killed 10 civilians.

10 May

A landmine explosion in Shuja'iyya resulted in injuries among an Israeli force that was combing the area. According to the Al-Quds Brigades, the landmine was planted as part of an ambush that they set up in the neighborhood.

26 May

The Al-Qassam Brigades reported that its fighters targeted IDF soldiers with rockets and detonated a minefield against another Israeli force that had infiltrated east of Shuja'iyya. The Mujahideen Brigades of the Mujahideen Movement reported they had shot down an Israeli drone flying over Shuja'iyya.

3 June

The Al-Qassam Brigades launched a drone attack against a group of IDF soldiers in Shuja'iyya, causing one casualty and several injuries.

7 June

The Mujahideen Brigades shelled a group of IDF soldiers east of Shuja'iyya, causing one injury.

9 June

Israeli bombings killed a total of 11 people in Shuja'iyya and the adjacent Zeitoun neighborhood.

13 June

The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades of the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...

(PFLP) reported that they shelled Israeli troops east of Shuja'iyya.

17 June

The Al-Quds Brigades stated that they shot down and captured an Israeli drone that was reportedly gathering intelligence around a local mosque in the neigborhood.

22 June

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades stated that they shelled Israeli forces at Al-Muntar Hill.

30 June

The IDF reportedly carried out a "wide wave of airstrikes" on Shuja'iyya.

References

{{Reflist Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip Gaza City in the Israel–Hamas war Shuja'iyya April 2025 in Asia Battles in 2025 2025 in Palestine 2025 in the Gaza Strip