The Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip has been fighting fierce battles against the occupation forces in the city of al-Zahraa, northwest of the central governorate, in recent days. The occupation is focusing on moving to this area after the end of the second phase of its ground operation in the Strip, in conjunction with its work to establish buffer zones along the eastern and northern borders.
Why is the al-Zahraa area important?
Hani al-Dali, an expert on Palestinian resistance affairs, said that “controlling this area was of great importance to the occupation, as it is pivotal geographically.”
Al-Dali explained that the city of al-Zahraa was a small city surrounded by agricultural areas, and is surrounded by “Netzarim”, the Gaza Valley, the central region from the south, and the Maghraqa area from the northeast.
He pointed out that this city “was one of the first areas that the occupation entered, and it destroyed most of its residential towers,” noting that this area “is the dividing line between the north and south of the Gaza Strip.”
Al-Dali explained that the city of al-Zahraa was also close to Ashara Street and the port that the occupation is building, so it wants to eliminate it, meaning that “it does not want pockets of resistance in this area, as it is considered one of the important areas for firing rockets, due to the open agricultural areas that surround it.”
He added that “the occupation’s talk about controlling the city of al-Zahraa and the surrounding the Maghraqa area is a complete lie,” stressing that “the Palestinian resistance, despite the long time that has passed and the difficulty of its movement in open areas after the Zionist destruction, is still capable of reaching these areas, and its tunnels are still working.”
Consequences of Zionist buffer zones
Regarding the military and political consequences of the buffer zones that the occupation is working on along the eastern and northern borders of the Gaza Strip, al-Dali explained that these steps “were planned by the occupation before its aggression on the Gaza Strip in order to implement the Ben Gurion Canal and control the sea of the Strip and its gas, as well as to forcibly displace the Palestinian people and usurp more of the Strip’s land, which aims to expand the settlement project.”
“These efforts come within the framework of trying to control most of the lands from which rockets are fired towards the occupied territories,” he underlined.
“The issue of separating the north from the Gaza Strip comes within the framework of completely overhauling it geographically and socially by determining the ages of those returning to the north and separating men from women,” stressing that “all these attempts will fail.”
The Palestinian Resistance in the Gaza Strip persists in repelling occupation forces, which have so far sustained significant losses in both equipment and lives, with the death toll of occupation soldiers reaching 590 since the onset of the war, according to the underreported Zionist numbers.
Reports state that on Saturday, that occupation forces are withdrawing from the northern part of Hamad city in Khan Younis, located in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, under artillery cover. This withdrawal occurred amidst the intensified confrontations led by the Resistance against the occupation forces on the 162nd day of aggression.
Additionally, our correspondent highlighted that the Resistance is conducting fierce confrontations with occupation forces in the cities of Zahraa and Maghraqa in central Gaza.