The Northern Brigade forces and the Yahalom unit under the command of Division 252 operated in the Beit Hanoun area in recent months, east of the “red line,” for the systematic destruction of above and below-ground terror infrastructure, and for the defense of the Western Negev communities.
As part of the engineering operation, the forces conducted hundreds of systematic drills, through which they located and destroyed over 11 kilometers of underground routes. Additionally, hundreds of above-ground terror infrastructures were destroyed.
During the fighting that took place in the area throughout the war, an additional three kilometers of underground routes were destroyed, and many terrorists were eliminated by the various brigades operating in the area.
The Beit Hanoun area in the northern Gaza Strip was one of the central and complex combat zones where the forces operated during the maneuver. In the fighting in the area, the forces encountered terrorists, operated with bravery and courage, and during the course of which IDF soldiers fell defending the Western Negev communities and defeating the Beit Hanoun battalion.
The area served for years as a central terror stronghold for Hamas, where the organization’s terrorists operated from terror infrastructures embedded within the civilian population. Beneath residential buildings, public institutions, and traffic routes, an underground network was built over the years that served the terrorists for carrying out terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces.
