Israeli army says it has withdrawn from Jabalia in Gaza Strip

Israel’s army announced the end of its operation in the town of Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip on Friday.

Hundreds of Palestinian fighters are said to have been killed in close combat and airstrikes.

The information could not initially be independently verified.

Palestinian accounts said the Israeli attacks in Jabalia also claimed many civilian lives.

The army says the bodies of seven Israelis who had been abducted in the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7 were found during operations on the ground in recent weeks.

The military said it had also destroyed around 10 kilometres of tunnels and found hundreds of weapons and several weapons production facilities.

This information could also not be independently verified.

Fierce fighting has raged in Jabalia for several weeks. The Times of Israel newspaper reported that a total of 10 Israeli soldiers were killed in operations there. Residents confirmed that the army had withdrawn from the town. Many have since returned to the area to check on their homes.

The army has captured – and withdrawn from – Jabalia before. Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi recently complained that the lack of a political strategy for the post-war period meant the army was repeatedly forced to fight in places in the Gaza Strip from which it had already pulled out. He cited Jabalia as an example.