The siege of Gaza City was an engagement of the Gaza war that began on 2 November 2023, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) surrounded Gaza City, amid the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip after the October 7 attacks. Gaza City is the most populated city in the Gaza Strip and the battle started on 30 October 2023, when Israel and Hamas clashed in Gaza City. According to Oxfam, about 500,000 Palestinians, along with 200 Israelis and other captives, were trapped in a "siege within a siege" in northern Gaza.
The siege ended on 19 January 2025 with the implementation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas earlier that day, and with Hamas retaining control over Gaza City.
Siege
November 2023
2 November On 2 November, Israeli troops encircled Gaza City as the Palestinian death toll rose above 9,000. Israeli troops met fierce resistance upon advancing towards the gates of Gaza city. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters left their tunnels to fire at incoming Israeli tanks, before heading back into their large underground network. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported to have lost the commander of its 53rd battalion in the battle, Lieutenant-Colonel Salman Habaka, who was believed to be the most senior Israeli officer killed since Israeli ground operations in the Gaza Strip began on 27 October.
Israel acknowledged that Hamas was "well-prepared" for the battle, saying that there were "minefields and booby traps" that hindered access to the city. A resident of Gaza City reported that Israel shelled the city throughout the whole night but still could not advance through city limits. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published the names of five soldiers who were killed during combat on 2 November, raising the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the invasion of the Gaza Strip to 24.
An Israeli airstrike destroyed a residential building in Bureij refugee camp south of Gaza City, killing at least 15 and burying dozens more under rubble. The airstrike took place in the southern zone of the Gaza Strip, which Israel had ordered residents of northern Gaza to evacuate to on 13 October. On the same day, Israeli airstrikes bombed an area of apartment towers in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, just 100 meters away from al-Quds Hospital, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
3 November
On 3 November, an Israeli drone missile targeted a medical convoy of ambulances that were carrying 15–20 critically wounded patients near the front gate of al-Shifa Hospital, who were leaving to the Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt to seek treatment abroad. On the same day, an Israeli airstrike bombed Osama bin Zaid school in northern Gaza, which was run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), killing over 20 people. The UNRWA said that at least 1,000 people took refuge in the school since the start of the war. Israel said it have lost 18 soldiers and killed dozens of militants on 3 November.
4 November
On 4 November, Israeli forces bombed the UN-run al-Fakhoora school in Jabalia refugee camp, which had been sheltering displaced people, killing at least 15 people and wounding 54, mostly women and children. Israel had also targeted solar panels and generators, including solar panels on top of hospitals. These were the only source of electricity in Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade on the Gaza Strip on 9 October. The Israeli army had bombed the Ali bin Abi Talib and al-Istijabah mosques in al-Sabra neighborhood. Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades said that their fighters have killed 5 more Israeli soldiers in a building northwest of Gaza City, after attacking the force with machine guns and bombs. Al-Qassam Brigades have stated that they are fighting on multiple fronts, including northwest of Gaza City, south of Gaza City, in Beit Hanoun and the northeastern Gaza Strip. Hamas fighters have destroyed 24 Israeli military vehicles, including a tank, an armoured personnel carrier, and a bulldozer with anti-armour weapons, notably 105mm al-Yassin rocket-propelled grenades in the past two days.
5 November
On 5 November, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombed al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least 30 to 51 people, mostly women and children. The Israeli bombing destroyed the Sam'an family's home in the refugee camp and caused severe damage to neighboring homes and infrastructure.
The IDF released footage of fighting near the Hamad Hospital (officially the Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics), including Hamas fighters firing from the hospital and using tunnels near the hospital building. Daniel Hagari, the head of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, said in a statement that Israel had fully surrounded Gaza City; Israeli media indicated that the IDF was going to enter the city itself in two days. Communication outages were also reported in Gaza due to the fighting.
7 November On 7 November, Israel said it have reached the "heart of Gaza City", however there is no evidence or indication on the ground that Israeli forces pushed further into the city. Hamas announced that its fighters were inflicting heavy losses and damage on advancing Israeli forces. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested a plan for Israel to be responsible for Gaza's overall security for an "indefinite period" after the war, although this was opposed by the United States. U.S. President Joe Biden argued that "a reoccupation by Israeli forces of Gaza is not the right thing to do".
8 November On 8 November, 50,000 Gazans fled south via the evacuation window according to the Israeli government, amid fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces in Gaza City. Some compared the mass movements to the Nakba of 1948. Daniel Hagari said that the IDF were destroying underground tunnels of Hamas and seizing weapons, including more than 700 RPGs. It is unclear whether Israeli troops were fighting inside the city.
An Israeli airstrike on a house near a hospital in Jabalia refugee camp killed at least 19 people. As a result of the Israeli total blockade of Gaza, al-Quds Hospital ran out of fuel and was forced to shut down most operations, while also suffering daily Israeli bombardments around the medical complex since 5 November. The hospital turned off its main generator and resorted to operating a smaller generator to provide essential services to its 500 patients and 14,000 internally displaced people sheltering there.
9 November
On 9 November, Israel launched a "series of violent raids" in northern Gaza, creating a "fire belt" in the eastern side of northern Gaza, according to the Palestinian Interior Ministry. Israeli jets bombed several homes in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, killing at least 7 Palestinians. An Israeli airstrike bombed al-Buraq School in Lababidi Street in the al-Nasr neighbourhood, north of Gaza City, which was being used by the UNRWA as a shelter. At least 50 people were killed in the attack, with multiple injuries reported.
The Israeli military said it have killed 50 Hamas fighters in Gaza City in the last few days. Hamas said that an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza was killed and another was injured in an Israeli air raid on central Gaza.
10 November On 10 November, at least 50 people were killed after Israeli missiles and artillery attacked a school in Gaza sheltering internally displaced people. Israeli tanks surrounded several hospitals in Gaza according to health officials, while al-Shifa hospital came under attack five times within 24 hours. By 10 November, over 50% of housing units across Gaza were destroyed by relentless Israeli bombardment.
Siege of the Al-Shifa Hospital (11–15 November)
Starting on 11 November, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began a siege of the al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, based on intelligence that Hamas' command center is under the hospital. The Israeli army directly attacked the hospital, where thousands of wounded and displaced people are trapped amid heavy bombardment. The situation at al-Shifa Hospital is part of a serious healthcare crisis in Gaza. The hospital is rapidly running out of electricity, food and medical supplies. The last generator ran out of fuel, killing three premature babies and four other patients. Another 36 children are at risk of death. On 15 November, the IDF raided the hospital.
18 November On 18 November, Israeli airstrikes over 80 civilians in Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza.
21 November On 21 November, the IDF moved its frontline to encircle Jabalia refugee camp where they were fighting Palestinian militants.
24 November On 24 November, the Israeli army withdrew from al-Shifa hospital. According to Middle East Eye (MEE), Israel failed to produce much evidence that Hamas was using the hospital as a "command and control centre" despite controlling the hospital for over a week.
December 2023
13 December Nine IDF soldiers of the Golani Brigade including Lieutenant-Colonel Tomer Greenberg was killed in an ambush while trying to help a group of IDF soldiers that were caught in an ambush resulting in one of the largest losses for the IDF during the invasion.
18 December The IDF announced that Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion and 188th Armored Brigade captured the Palestine Square in Gaza City's Shuja'iyya neighborhood releasing footage of IDF demolishing the Hamas war monument that celebrated the ambush of an Israeli APC during the 2014 battle of Shuja'iyya The Shuja'iyya Battalion of Hamas was also under heavy pressure due Israel destroying its command centers and infrastructure but Shuja'iyya remained an established stronghold of Hamas with heavy fighting.
19 December The IDF reported the destruction of the three Hamas battalions operating in Jabalia and that Palestinian militant deaths in Jabalia had reached 1000 although a few militia fighters were still fighting in the Jabalia area. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) estimated that Hamas's North Gaza Brigade had been significantly degraded.
Palestinian militias continued to attack Israeli advances east of Jabalia with the al-Qassam Brigades claiming two attacks on Israeli forces using thermobaric rockets and rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) in Tal al-Zaatar refugee camp, north of Jabalia together with mortar attacks by al-Quds Brigades. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades also claimed to have attacked Israeli forces. Palestinian militants used the relative safety of the Central Governorate to attack Israeli forces in and around the Gaza City.
20 December CTP-ISW assessed that the al-Qassam Brigades' Sabra-Tal al-Islam (Tel al-Hawa) Battalion is degraded but is still combat effective. Al-Qassem Brigades continued attacks against advancing Israeli forces as well as resisting Israeli clearing operations behind Israeli frontline. Reported Hamas attacks included an ambush of eight-vehicle Israeli convoy in Sabra and Tel al-Hawa and detonating anti-personnel IEDs in Zaytun neighborhood, southern Gaza City.
21 December The IDF reported operations in the Bakshi neighborhood, south of Gaza City against the Nuseirat Battalion from the Hamas Central Gaza Strip Brigade. Israel began expanding the offensive towards Central Gaza which had been used by Hamas and allies to carry out attacks against IDF forces in the Gaza City.
The IDF announced the "operational control" of Shuja'iyya and the destruction of the Hamas Shuja'iyya Battalion with IDF saying that the Battalion has not carried out attacks in the past week. However Palestinian militias other than Hamas continued to battle Israeli forces around Shujaiya and surrounding neighborhoods with The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Al-Quds Brigades reporting continued fighting with IDF.
22 December