Inside the Gaza Strip: IDF Operations Along the Yellow Line and Philadelphi Corridor
An analytical report from the Gaza Strip details ongoing IDF operations along the Philadelphi Corridor and the Yellow Line, highlighting the vast destruction, humanitarian aid truck traffic, and Hamas's efforts to rebuild its military capabilities.
Driving from east to west across the Gaza Strip along the Philadelphi Corridor, one encounters near-apocalyptic scenes: entire cities flattened completely, shards of walls and concrete, with no single building left standing—except for "humanitarian" structures such as schools or hospitals, whose skeletons may remain but whose windows are shattered by the blast waves of bombings, standing as isolated structures amidst heaps of ruins.
The scale of destruction is astonishing anew each time, the direct result of operations by Air Force aircraft, tanks, bulldozers, and various types of bombs dropped across the Gaza Strip during the long months of combat.
The "Yellow Line" and Fortified Outposts
Despite the ceasefire since the return of the hostages during Simchat Torah nearly a year ago, IDF bulldozers have not stopped working within the territory now known as the Yellow Line, which controls approximately 63 to 64 percent of the Strip's original area.
Soldiers and commanders of the 401st Brigade, whom we joined in the Rafah area, report almost complete quiet in recent weeks, with no unusual incidents involving terrorists approaching their sector. The primary threat facing the forces in the Strip, as analyzed by commanders on the ground, is mainly mortar or sniper fire, and in a severe case—a raid on an IDF outpost.
In fact, the IDF has established more than thirty such outposts along the entire Strip—at a cost of hundreds of millions of shekels. The outposts are fortified and equipped with masts, cameras, and communication systems. Some are heavily invested in; others still require investment to bring them to a higher level of readiness and competence.
Aid Trucks and Hamas Re-emergence
In a casual conversation with a soldier standing guard at one of the large, fortified outposts built by the IDF inside the Strip's territory, while preparing for a prolonged stay in the area, it seems that the rules of engagement are entirely clear to him—and that he is authorized to open fire at any threat endangering his life, and to act against any suspect crossing the Yellow Line and approaching the outpost line.
However, the truth is that even from the guard post at the western IDF outpost, near the Gaza sea and north of the Philadelphi Corridor, one can clearly see the massive traffic jam created by the endless convoy of trucks entering the Strip daily. Driving along the Philadelphi Corridor, dozens of such trucks pass us, entering loaded with goods, driving along Philadelphi and turning north toward the center of the Strip, where some two million Palestinians are concentrated, still ruled by Hamas.
"They Will Not Disarm Themselves"
With the IDF deep inside the territory of the Strip, it seems that the immediate threat to the communities of the Gaza envelope has significantly decreased. Yet the real threat lies in Hamas's force-building processes, which are not slowing down. Senior officers in the Southern Command, with whom we spoke in recent weeks, note that Hamas is returning to its original size and managing to recruit more and more operatives from among the Strip's residents.
"We will have to return to the Strip at some stage or another," a senior officer recently admitted in a conversation. "We have not finished removing this threat. They will not disarm on their own; we will have to do it later."
