Shuja’iyya neighborhood represents one of the strong models of the ongoing confrontations between the resistance and the occupation, demonstrating the ability of its fighters to repel numerous invasions targeting it. Notably, it is located within walking distance east of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. This geographic proximity proved fatal in the October 7 attack, prompting the occupation army to exert all its power in a failed attempt to prevent the resistance from regrouping in the neighborhood. However, the field result was contrary, with the resistance remaining in the area.
David Horovitz, a correspondent for the “Times of Israel” website, prepared a field report from inside Shuja’iyya neighborhood, which he described as “the heart of Hamas strongholds,” after arriving in a military vehicle of the Hummer type through one of the many breaches in the border fence.
In his report, translated by “Arabi21,” he says: “We found ourselves in an abandoned area, littered with twisted metal remnants of buildings, machinery, and vehicles that were unrecognizable. Before the war, it was agricultural land and an industrial area, as well as a training center for Hamas. We then entered a residential area, filled with broken concrete slabs and piles of rubble, where high-rise buildings stood nine months ago.”
He added that “Kibbutz Nahal Oz, adjacent to Shuja’iyya, witnessed a battle on October 7 in which Hamas killed 60 soldiers, occupied the kibbutz for 12 continuous hours, and took hostages from it. Despite the destruction that has ravaged Shuja’iyya in recent months, Hamas elements and other armed individuals appear above ground in areas not far from it, possibly residing in the extensive underground tunnel network. We can still see some homes in Nahal Oz from a distance of two kilometers from Shuja’iyya.”
He quoted Ron Sia, the commander of Battalion 75, saying, “The army’s recent operations in Shuja’iyya focus on blowing up the remaining parts of a 1.5-kilometer-long tunnel to close the loop. Ten years ago, in the first rounds of Operation Protective Edge, Hamas fighters emerged from this tunnel into the occupied territories, killing five soldiers at a military site south of Nahal Oz. Today, he expresses frustration over the repeated returns to Shuja’iyya from time to time, considering it evidence of the army’s inability to operationally control it, despite its claims in December of dismantling the local Hamas battalion.”
He continued that “in the early months of the ground operation, the occupation army fought against the organized Hamas army, but today we focus more on the infrastructure, particularly destroying the tunnels in preparation for changing the reality for decades, as we hope.” The officer also claimed to have found “incredible” amounts of weapons in several houses in the area.
He admitted that “the October 7 attack marked a ‘turning point in Israeli identity.’ He said, ‘When I saw Hamas white vehicles in the streets of Sderot… I knew this was a war of independence, and therefore we have to carry out operations to rescue hostages from Hamas’s hands.” He explained that rescuing hostages requires high-risk decisions, and some outcomes could have been different from what was achieved.
On his part, Gideon Eliastam, deputy commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, admitted that “the army struck this tunnel several times in the past, but this passage was only discovered now. Although the tunnel did not cross the border towards the Gaza Strip settlements, seven Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hamas attack 150 meters from Shuja’iyya in the 2014 war, where soldier Oron Shaul was kidnapped from here. Hamas also used this tunnel to move its forces, so the area is not free of threats despite all the army’s operations. We have not killed all the armed men because they will return.”
He added that “Hamas moves from place to place, trying to surprise us, and we do not underestimate it. It has been preparing for years, and we are learning all the time, so I cannot give a timeline for the end of the current battle because it will take some time.” He expressed his fear that “the war might end prematurely, allowing for a potential return of Hamas to Shuja’iyya, recruiting activists, and arming themselves at every opportunity after catching their breath.”
He concluded by saying that “the declared goal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this war is complete victory, facing an enemy lurking around every corner, in every entrance, and under every step. Achieving such a goal is still not fully attainable despite the destruction you see in Shuja’iyya, especially after nine months of fighting.”
