The IDF on Sunday significantly expanded its invasion of Gaza, and more specifically of Rafah, ordering an evacuation of Palestinian civilians of Tel Sultan, the first time it has moved to reoccupy a second major area within one of Gaza’s four main sectors since Israel renewed hostilities with Hamas on March 18.
Only hours later, the IDF announced that it was adding a third division, Division 36, into the Gaza invasion, to join the thrust along with Division 252 in central Gaza and Division 143 in Rafah as well as the Golani Brigade and Tank Brigade 188.
This will be a significant increase in power, and Division 36 is known as a more superior division in combat than some of the others, being given top risky missions at the start of the war along with divisions 98 and 162.
Last week, the IDF had only invaded one area in each of Gaza’s four major quarters: northern Gaza, central Gaza, Khan Yunis, and Rafah, putting pressure on Hamas, but far from a full-scale invasion of large portions of the Strip.
In Rafah, the IDF had invaded Shaboura last week, the center of that sector.
Tel Sultan is in western Rafah, somewhat closer to the Mediterranean coastline.
Also, Tel Sultan, where the army killed former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, was the center of Hamas resistance in Rafah in the summer of 2024, and a location where many hostages were kept, including six who were executed by Hamas.
By ordering Gazan civilians out of both critical Rafah areas, a very large portion of Gazans will now need to move toward the al-Mawasi humanitarian area, where many of them were only two months ago when the military had invaded all of Rafah.
#عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل الى سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في منطقة تل السلطان في رفح ⭕️بدأ جيش الدفاع هجوماً لضرب المنظمات الإرهابية حيث تعتبر المنطقة التي تتواجدون فيها منطقة قتال خطيرة.⭕️شارع غوش قطيف يعتبر مسارًا إنسانيًا لاستخدامكم من أجل الانتقال الى منطقة المواصي. نحذركم:… pic.twitter.com/7uY6g8GBEV
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 23, 2025
Although the invasion is still proceeding on a gradual basis and with Hamas presenting no sustained resistance so far, which in some ways is making fewer headlines, this latest move could put much stronger pressure on Hamas than any of the smaller invasions last week because of the need for a larger group of Palestinians to be isolated from residential areas of Gaza.
For those Palestinians who did not yet leave the al-Mawasi refugee camps even during the 60-day ceasefire, it could represent a much stronger declaration about how long they may need to remain in such camps, with no rebuilding in Gaza possible.
In terms of the direct impact on Hamas fighters, the IDF said on Sunday that it had killed dozens of terrorists.
This is more than the IDF was killing during the ceasefire, but is a far cry from the possibly hundreds killed during airstrikes on March 18 and the around 20,000 killed from October 2023-January 2025.
In addition, the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced the assassinations of three senior Hamas officials on Sunday, one political and two military.
One of those assassinated, Ahmed Suleiman Ootz Samali, was the deputy chief of the Gaza City brigade and handled much of the operational and force buildup planning for that brigade leading into October 7 as well as during the war after that.
Another official, Jamil Omar Jamil Wadiya, was the battalion commander of Shejaia in northern Gaza since December 2023 when his predecessor in that role was killed by the IDF.
The third official was Salah Bardawil, a senior terrorist in Hamas’s political bureau, heading the terror group’s planning and development office, with the IDF adding that in the framework of his role, the terrorist led Hamas’s strategic and military planning in the Gaza Strip.
Israel Katz's vague threats in IDF expansion in Gaza
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday made a substantial yet vague escalatory threat, saying the IDF will permanently seize parts of the Gaza Strip if Hamas doesn’t release the hostages held in captivity,
“I have instructed the IDF to seize additional areas in Gaza, evacuate the population, and expand security zones around Gaza to protect Israeli communities and IDF soldiers. The more Hamas persists in its refusal to release the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed to Israel,” Katz said.
“If the hostages are not released, Israel will continue to take more and more territory in the Strip for permanent control,” he said.
If played out to their maximal conclusion, Katz’s threats could be a game-changer shaking the region with Israel permanently occupying portions of Gaza, something it had insisted it was not interested in up until this point in the war.
However, Katz’s declarations were vague.
He did not specify which portions of Gaza would be annexed, how long Hamas had until such decisions would be made, if there were scenarios where small annexations could be reversed once hostages were returned, or whether Israel had support for such a move from the Trump administration or other world powers.
In turn, when questioned for more specifics about these issues by The Jerusalem Post, uncharacteristically, his office did not respond.
Moreover, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not make any similar statement, which one might have expected for such a major policy reversal.
Alternatively, the entire mover was being used merely for psychological warfare against Hamas or as later justification for Israel to permanently occupy the small 700-1,100 meter security perimeter zone around Gaza that it has held onto even during the recent ceasefire.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.