SETH FRANTZMAN
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) extended operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah during the third week of June. The IDF has been in Rafah since the evening of May 6, and it appears the campaign will now extend through July. The IDF’s presence continues because of the large number of tunnel shafts and significant terrorist infrastructure Israeli forces have discovered and must dismantle. Israel’s military estimates that it controls between “60 to 70 percent of Rafah” city and its environs.
The IDF’s battle for Rafah is led by the 162nd Division. The division has several key units that have been conducting the work of finding tunnels and removing munitions and other terrorist infrastructure. These include the Givati Infantry Brigade, the Nahal Infantry Brigade, the 401st Armored Brigade, and the “Negev” 12th Reserve Infantry Brigade.
Members of the Nahal Infantry Brigade took several Israeli journalists along the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Egyptian border south of Rafah, and also provided insights into the difficulties faced in the city’s neighborhoods. Colonel Yair Zuckerman, Nahal’s commander, described the lower-intensity nature of the fighting.
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