The vast majority of the Palestinian civilian population that had been residing in northern Gaza's Jabalia has evacuated, as the IDF presses on with an offensive against Hamas in the area and other towns north of Gaza City.
The IDF says it has managed to move more than 55,000 civilians out of Jabalia after Hamas was allegedly forcing them to stay there to act as a human shield for their activities. Some 60,000 Palestinians were estimated to have been in Jabalia before the latest operation was launched last month.
The population has largely moved to Gaza City, with only a few dozen crossing the IDF's Netzarim Corridor and heading to the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Strip's south.
According to the IDF, it has evidence and testimonies that Hamas shot, beat, and in some cases executed civilians trying to flee the Jabalia area.
The IDF says it seeks to clear the town of civilians to enable a cleaner operation against terror operatives, without risking the lives of innocents, while Hamas attempts to hide behind the population.
Senior officers deny that the army is carrying out the so-called generals' plan to lay siege to northern Gaza, promoted by a group of senior IDF retirees. Under the plan, north Gaza would become a military zone where everyone is a target, and no supplies would enter the territory.
On the ground, dozens of aid trucks are entering northern Gaza each day, via the two Erez crossings, and the civilian population is being safely evacuated and not intentionally targeted, according to the IDF.
The military says it has captured 700 members of Hamas and other terror groups who surrendered to forces during the evacuation of civilians in Jabalia. Among those captured are dozens who participated in the October 7 onslaught, including the raid on the Erez Crossing, the IDF says.
The detained terror operatives are providing the IDF with useful intelligence, the military says.
As of this morning, more than 1,000 terror operatives have also been killed amid the latest fighting in Jabalia, according to the IDF.
The IDF's latest estimate puts the total number of people still in Jabalia at several hundred. Several thousand Palestinians also remain in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun, and other northern Gaza towns, where the military plans to operate against Hamas as part of the ongoing offensive.
North Gaza's towns, including Jabalia, are now disconnected from Gaza City amid the ongoing operation, which the IDF says is to prevent Hamas operatives from escaping or alternatively, from bringing in reinforcements from Gaza City, where thousands of terror operatives are thought to be.
The ongoing operation is being carried out by the 162nd Division, with the 401st Armored Brigade, and the Givati and Kfir infantry brigades.
Amid the operation, the IDF says it has discovered over 200 homes that were booby-trapped with explosives. In two cases, the bombs were not discovered before troops entered the buildings, leading to casualties.
The operation marks the fourth push into Jabalia by the IDF since the start of the war a year ago. The military assesses that this operation will finally break Hamas's forces in Jabalia, and it will no longer represent the terror group's "most significant center of gravity" in northern Gaza.
Nineteen IDF soldiers and officers have been killed during the Jabalia operation so far, including the commander of the 401st Armored Brigade.
