The commander of the 162nd Division, Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen (center) walks with other officers in Gaza City’s Jabaliya, in a handout image published December 19, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces.)
The commander of the 162nd Division, Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, says his forces have managed to “break the operational abilities” of Hamas’s northern Gaza City brigade, as troops gain full control of the Jabaliya neighborhood.
“The 162nd Division has operational control in Jabaliya,” Cohen says. “Jabaliya is not the Jabaliya it used to be, we killed hundreds of terrorists in Jabaliya and arrested around 500 suspects in terror activities, some of whom took part in the events of October 7,” he says.
According to military assessments, some 1,000 Hamas operatives have been killed by troops in Jabaliya. Another 3,500 Palestinians have been captured by the IDF, of which at least 500 are suspected of being involved in terror, including the October 7 attacks on southern Israel.
At least 70 of the estimated 1,500 terrorists who carried out the October 7 attacks lived in Jabaliya, and so far 57 of their homes have been destroyed by the IDF.
The IDF says that some of the terror suspects who surrendered to troops in Jabaliya were holed up in civilian sites, including hospitals and schools.
Many Hamas sites, including training grounds, command centers, weapon production plants and tunnels, have been destroyed in Jabaliya, the IDF adds.
The 162nd Division has also located Hamas intelligence material during the operations in Jabaliya, which has helped further operations in the area.
Cohen says his division has “led to the dismantling of the military capabilities” of Hamas’s northern Gaza City brigade.
