Before soldiers from the 969th Battalion accompanied our group of three reporters through the Erez Crossing and into the Gaza Strip on Thursday, massive explosions could be seen and heard just over the border fence. Large plumes of layered smoke could be seen from the base where the soldiers picked us up in their armored vehicles.
Soldiers dropped us off at a critical location for the IDF. Located between two northern Gazan cities, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia, it is used as a lookout point for the top half of the enclave and nearly all of the Israeli border area. The battalion fights against this backdrop, with the memory of Oct. 7 ever present as they overlook kibbutzim that were ransacked and massacred by the Hamas-led terrorists.
“We can see here Beit Hanoun and if we look beyond Beit Hanoun, we can see [Kibbutz] Kfar Aza, and if we continue, we can see [Kibbutz] Nahal Oz,” said Lt. Col. (res.) T., commander of the battalion, who remains anonymous for safety and operational purposes. “Every soldier here can see what he is protecting, he can see the communities, and he knows what he is protecting them from.”
Lt. Col. T. explained that Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya are not only “massive Hamas strongholds,” but IDF soldiers there keep finding weapons and tunnels and are still engaged in face-to-face combat with terrorists on a daily basis.
“It’s more like an ambush. Sometimes there are terrorists just waiting for us, it’s like a game, like a chess game,” said A., a combat reservist in the battalion.
On Tuesday, the Givati Brigade killed dozens of terrorists at close range and dismantled terrorist infrastructure in Beit Hanoun, a few kilometers from where the group of journalists were now standing, the IDF said. They also located weapons, tunnel routes and a rocket launcher used by Hamas to fire at Israel.
“We need to find them and get to them, so we can dismantle them,” said Lt. Col. T. He explained that Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya are “massive Hamas strongholds,” and IDF soldiers there keep finding weapons and tunnels and are still engaged in face-to-face combat with terrorists on a daily basis.
“These processes take time, but this is something that is happening every night. Every night we discover tunnels,” Lt. Col. T. said.
The destroyed buildings stretch for kilometers in the two cities, seen through the gray smoke. Devastation fills every neighborhood, with scarcely a structure upright.
Soldiers explain that even though the structures have been knocked down, Hamas terrorists still find a way to survive there. They also say the explosions are likely taking place in underground terrorist infrastructure.
A. said, “Everything around here is demolished for a reason. Everything here is where the terrorist hide all their weapons, hide everything.”
From the point where the journalists were standing, the IDF said Palestinian civilians were pushed two kilometers south to avoid the ongoing operations and combat.
As Hamas continues to hold its own people and Israelis hostage, IDF soldiers here say they aren’t going anywhere.
“After 600-plus days of fighting, we are here. Fighting from deep within the Gaza Strip, deep within the area of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, and we are here to stay,” Lt. Col. T. said.
