The IDF is in Jabalia again, but this time there is nowhere for Hamas to run

The Israel Defense Forces are fighting in Jabalia for the third time, confronting yet another Hamas resurgence in the northern Gazan terror stronghold and taking losses in the battle. But this time around, Israel is leveraging new strategic advantages to seal off the neighborhood so terrorists cannot escape to other parts of Gaza. With the IDF’s new playbook of sealing the battlefield and systematically evacuating civilians, the terrorists barricaded in Jabalia will be apprehended or eliminated.

Israel’s new approach in Jabalia has elicited some consternation. As is often the case, Israel is in the unenviable position of having to balance its reputation in the international community against the security of its civilians.

However, Jerusalem cannot guarantee security to the Israeli border communities—many of which remain within easy artillery range and in some cases sniper range from northern Gaza neighborhoods—until the threats in northern Gaza are dealt with conclusively. If the IDF is not successful in Jabalia, then thousands of Israeli civilians who have been displaced for more than a year will remain so.

During the two previous campaigns in Jabalia, one in December of 2023 and another in May of 2024, Hamas operatives could flood southward when the water got too hot—to hide in humanitarian zones like Mawasi, take cover in cities without an IDF presence like Rafah or make a run for the extensive Hamas tunnel network that crisscrossed underneath Gaza’s border with Egypt along a strip of territory known as the Philadelphi Corridor.

That’s what Hamas’s Gaza leader and architect of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacres, Yahya Sinwar, did. Sinwar was killed by the IDF in September in the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah; he was found to be carrying a passport and several thousand dollars in cash. Perhaps he was hoping to make a quick dash to the Egyptian border and escape into the dusty Sinai.

However, by May, the IDF had gained operational control of the Philadelphi Corridor and quickly got to work detecting and destroying at least 150 tunnels that could have been used to smuggle weapons in and smuggle terrorists out. Sealing that porous border was a key strategic accomplishment for the IDF, essentially depriving Hamas of its ability to rearm and ensuring that the terror leaders could not escape the enclave.

Another critical geographic corridor that has become a strategic asset in the battle against Hamas is the Netzarim Corridor. Established in the first weeks of the ground invasion as a logistic axis and humanitarian route the corridor effectively bisects Gaza. In the early days of the war, terrorists could traverse the corridor without encountering the IDF. That is no longer the case.

Today, Netzarim Corridor cuts a three- to four-mile wide swath across the enclave—from the Mediterranean to the Israeli border adjacent to Kibbutz Be’eri. The corridor essentially functions as an elongated military base that Palestinians must pass through to move between northern and southern Gaza.

Recent satellite imagery published in Haaretz, revealed a new IDF-controlled corridor that bisects northern Gaza, isolating three northern suburbs of Gaza City: Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Hamas hot spot Jabalia.

During the first month of the newest, ongoing Jabalia operation, the IDF evacuated 55,000 civilians. Using advanced technology, the IDF made sure that Hamas terrorists exiting the city among the swaths of civilians were identified and more than 1,000 were promptly arrested. These detainees have provided crucial intelligence, often quick to give up information on their employer.

Despite the painful losses Israel has taken fighting in the north, the IDF remains determined to stem Hamas resurgences, avoiding mistakes made earlier in the war when the strategy seemed to be to clear an area and withdraw. By militarily sealing off Jabalia, and remaining entrenched in the combat zone, the IDF can ensure that Hamas terrorists lack escape routes and terror reinforcements.

In an ideal scenario, this means that the IDF can stop returning to the same battlefields. This new tactic of laying siege to problem areas, evacuating civilians and forcing terrorists to surrender will likely be repeated in Gaza City. Now that the Strip is sectioned off by strategic corridors, the IDF has unprecedented operational maneuverability. The same sort of strategy could theoretically be applied in Gaza City, where the 99th Division continues to operate.

While the new strategy of essentially creating micro-battlefields is not popular in Turtle Bay and may not conclusively win the war (if such a thing is possible), it may allow Israelis from southern Israel to finally return home. Washington should continue to support Israel’s right to return security to its southern communities and refrain from pressuring Jerusalem to cede the important strategic corridors in a ceasefire agreement. The corridors are pivotal to the IDF’s effective maneuvering in Gaza and are key to preventing Hamas from reconstituting and once again threatening Israel’s southern communities.

Enia Krivine is the senior director of the Israel Program and the National Security Network at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow her on X @EKrivine. Aaron Goren is a research analyst and editor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on X @RealAaronGoren.