Published On 17/10/2025
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Last update: 01:00 (Mecca time)
Military and strategic expert Elias Hanna explained that the Israeli forces withdrew from their front combat positions and redeployed to 37 new concentration points inside the Gaza Strip, explaining that the first phase of the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation army was completed within the first 24 hours of signing the recent ceasefire agreement.
According to Hanna, the repositioning process does not mean a complete withdrawal, but rather a tactical redeployment in specific areas north and south of the Gaza Strip, most likely in preparation for the “post-truce” phase, in the event that the ceasefire agreement fails.
He added – in an analysis of the military scene in Gaza – that about 26% of the new concentration points are located in northern Gaza, especially in Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, while Gaza City alone occupies 16% of these points.
While 27% of the forces are stationed in the south in Rafah and Khan Yunis, a distribution that reflects – according to Hanna – the occupation’s desire to maintain military control over the vital peripheries of the Strip.
As for the contraction in the center of the Gaza Strip, the military expert attributed it to the region’s connection to Israeli search operations for the bodies of missing prisoners in Gaza, where they are being searched for and it is a sensitive file that constitutes one of the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
Hanna pointed out the lack of concentration in that area during the war, explaining that the last Israeli operations in this region were in Gaza City before the forces withdrew towards their current concentration points.
Regarding the Philadelphia border axis between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, Hanna stressed that this axis represents the “basic pillar” in the next phase of the agreement, explaining that US President Donald Trump considers controlling this axis a pivotal condition in any security arrangements that follow the cessation of the war.
Premeditated intention
According to satellite images, Israel has intensified its military presence in the Tal al-Mantar area, east of Gaza City, where new mechanisms and fortifications appeared only a week after the cessation of war agreement entered into force, while images taken 10 days before the truce (on September 27) showed that the area was completely devoid of any military activity.
Hanna believes that this field expansion reflects Israel’s malicious intention aimed at redrawing the withdrawal map to serve its future plans inside Gaza, noting that Tel Aviv had demanded – during the first ceasefire negotiations last January – to be allowed to station its forces inside the Strip at a depth of up to 1,100 meters in the Tel Al-Mantar area.
Hanna warns that this Israeli field movement may constitute a prelude to a new escalation in the event that political arrangements fail or implementation of the terms of the agreement falters.