The Second Battle of Shuja'iyya was a military battle between Israel and the Hamas-led Palestinian forces during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which ended in an Israeli withdrawal.[10] Fought from 27 June 2024[11] to 10 July 2024,[10] it was the second engagement between the two sides in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City.
Israel claimed that it had dismantled Hamas in the region in December, but militants continued to attack Israeli forces and maintained a strong presence in the area.[1] This resulted in Israel attacking Shuja'iyya once again in late June.[14]
Battle
The IDF began a second invasion of Shuja'iyya on 27 June 2024 with a combined tank and drone assault, ordering Palestinian civilians to go south.[11] These operations were led by the 98th Paratroopers Division[14] with medics and witnesses saying the assault had caused numerous casualties.[6] Israeli bombing of the neighbourhood resulted in widespread destruction, causing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee the attack, while the UN estimated that up to 80,000 Palestinians were displaced from the area.[15]
Hamas and its ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad responded to the invasion with guerilla attacks, artillery fire, and sniper attacks on IDF positions.[11][13][16] On 4 July, in operations conducted by Palestinian militants in the city, an Israeli officer was killed while three others were seriously injured.
On 12 July, it was reported that the IDF had managed to kill the deputy head of the Hamas battalion in Shuja'iyya, Ayman Showadeh, who was involved in leading the October 2023 attack on Israel.[17][18]
The Israeli army stated that it had destroyed 8 tunnels during the battle,[1] and on 10 July, Israel retreated from the neighbourhood, while Palestinian militants retained their positions.[2]
Aftermath
Families among the tens of thousands displaced by Israeli actions in Shuja'iyya began to return following the end of the battle but reported widespread destruction and that nearly every building in the neighbourhood had been destroyed.[9] Gazan officials working for the native government in Gaza returned to the neighbourhood immediately following the Israeli withdrawal and found more than 60 bodies.[9][19] It was reported that the neighborhood had "become a disaster area that is not suitable for habitat", with 85% of the residential buildings there destroyed by the IDF.[10]
One family reported that the IDF had raided their Shuja'iyya home on July 3 and attacked their family member, Muhammed Bhar, with a combat dog. According to the family, the IDF promised to treat Bhar, who had Down Syndrome, and ordered the rest of the family to leave at gunpoint. After the IDF withdrawal, the family said that they returned to find Bhar dead on the floor.[20][21]
