About a month and a half ago, the 162nd Division maneuvered towards Rafah with the aim of overwhelming the Rafah Brigade, locating weapons, tunnels and taking control of the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah crossing - through which weapons, ammunition and military equipment were smuggled.
The combat teams of the 401st and Givati brigades have taken over the Rafah crossing, the Philadelphi Corridor, the NPK neighborhood (parallel to the Philadelphi Corridor), the Brazil neighborhood in the south of the city, and parts of the Tel Sultan neighborhoods in the West of the city.
The forces of the 162nd Division, from the beginning of the maneuver in Rafah, killed over 1000 terrorists whose names the IDF knows, not including those buried under the ruins of the buildings or underground.
Also, the IDF located and destroyed most of the underground systems to which Hamas’s Rafah battalions moved.
What missions remain in Rafah?
The IDF is required to complete the defeat of the Rafah battalions - most of whose operatives fled to Khan Yunis. Those who remain in the area move in the remaining underground structures or between buildings.
These forces engage minimally with IDF troops, preferring instead to fire at Israeli forces from a distance or waiting for the soldiers to move elsewhere in order to survive.
And what about the Philadelphi Corridor?
Following IDF operations in the Philadelphi Corridor, to ensure the permanent destruction of Hamas's supply pipeline, the IDF will later perform scans along the entire axis.
These efforts will be supported by the Technology and Logistics Division under the command of Col. Michel Yanko.
In addition, Israeli troops will be required to secure a logistics axis along the Corridor and toward Rafah.
The diplomatic level has not yet decided on the continuation of combat in the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, but at this stage, estimates suggest that intense fighting in the city will conclude within a week.