The IDF has increased the pace of its Gaza invasion over the weekend, expanding its operations in the enclave, killing dozens of Hamas terrorists, and striking 670 Hamas targets, it announced on Sunday.
IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said on Sunday that five IDF divisions were operating in Gaza, which is the first time since late 2023 to early 2024 that such a large volume of soldiers is inside the enclave.
The IDF's 143rd, 36th, and 252nd Divisions have been involved since early March and the 162nd Division eventually joined. Previously, the 98th Division was also involved in a Gaza incursion.
Each division usually consist of anywhere between 5,000 to 10,000 soldiers. For much of the war after the IDF withdrew from Khan Yunis on April 7, 2024, there were only a few thousand soldiers simultaneously in Gaza at most.
Only when the Israel-Hamas War began was such a large force assembled for invading Gaza.
Over the weekend, military forces invaded and started to take control over large portions of northern and southern Gaza, which they had not entered in such large volumes since 2024.
IDF attacks focused on Hamas forces, their weapons, tunnels, and anti-tank missile crews.
Notably, the army did not indicate wide-ranging attacks on headquarters, possibly because Hamas has been unable to reorganize new large command centers since the IDF renewed hostilities in early March.
The tone of the IDF update still seemed to leave room for negotiations with Hamas to halt the wider invasion and reach a new ceasefire and hostage exchange deal.
However, military sources rejected reports that orders were circulating to commanders in the field to prepare for a potential imminent ceasefire.
Still, the IDF’s message did not indicate how much the larger invasion had expanded.
The IDF had already conquered or taken control of over 40%-50% of Gaza several weeks ago.
This current operation could raise that number to 70%-80%, leaving most Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, parts of Khan Yunis, and parts of central Gaza.
IDF avoiding certain areas in Gaza
There are still certain areas that the IDF is avoiding, as it has in the past, so as not to accidentally kill Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir traveled inside Gaza to meet with Southern Command Chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, 162nd Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Sagiv Dahan, and the fighters of the 401st Brigade.
Zamir told them that the current operation would break any remaining fighting spirit that Hamas may still have and give the political echelon the leverage to return the hostages held by Hamas.
Hamas and foreign reports said that the military attacks since the end of last week had killed over 260 civilians and wounded over 600 people.
IDF sources said that it was too early to know whether these numbers were correct, but that they were not unfathomable, given that almost all of Hamas is hiding among Palestinian civilians.
It added that Israel was trying its hardest to keep the number of incidental killings of civilians low.
Still, given that the IDF said that dozens of terrorists were killed, the number of civilians is likely a good bit lower than 260.
Later on Sunday, Hamas managed to fire two rockets from central Gaza toward Kissufim on the Gaza border.
One rocket was shot down, while the other fell in an open field. It was unclear if the second rocket was not shot down because the Iron Dome, tracking its trajectory, could see that it was going to land in an open field.
Generally, Hamas has failed to mount a serious rocket threat to Israel since January 2024, with some temporary exceptions at unique points, such as when the IDF first invaded Rafah in the late spring of 2024.