Israeli forces raided 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 ...

district 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 ...

for the second time from 27 June to 10 July 2024 as part 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 ...

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 The Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip is a major part of the Gaza war. Starting on 7 October 2023, immediately after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israel began bombing of the Gaza Strip, bombing the Ga ...

, 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

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 ...

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 battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

and drone assault, ordering Palestinian civilians to go south. These operations were led by the

98th Paratroopers Division The 98th "Ha-Esh" Paratroopers Division (, ''Utzbat HaEsh,'' lit. The Fire Formation), is an elite division of the Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), i ...

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 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 ...

responded to the invasion with guerilla attacks,

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

fire, and

sniper A sniper is a military or 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 telescopic si ...

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, while Palestinian militants retained 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 there destroyed by the IDF. One 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, 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

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

Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

References