Combat forces of the IDF Paratroopers Brigade concluded an intensive three-month operational deployment in the Gaza Strip on Monday and have begun rotating into the Judea and Samaria sector, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced. Operating under the command of the Gaza Division and the 99th Division, the paratroopers executed defensive sweeps and cleared terror infrastructure along the strategic “Yellow Line.”
Working alongside elite Yahalom combat engineering units, the brigade successfully located, sealed, and demolished over 13 cumulative kilometers of subterranean terror tunnels. Among the destroyed subterranean networks was a section of the tunnel where the body of fallen IDF officer Lt. Hadar Goldin was previously held by Hamas terrorists. In addition to neutralizing underground networks, troops dismantled surface-level terror infrastructure and seized vast caches of Hamas munitions intended for ambushes against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians. Seized armaments included RPG rockets, mortar shells, fragmentation grenades, launch rigs, and large stockpiles of ammunition. The forces also established fortified patrol corridors and newly built forward outposts to cement IDF operational control.
With their Gaza mission complete, the Paratroopers Brigade is redeploying across Judea and Samaria. The military stressed that Southern Command forces remain fully deployed across the Gaza Strip under existing operational frameworks: “IDF Southern Command forces remain deployed throughout the region in accordance with the ceasefire framework and will continue to act decisively to neutralize any immediate threat.” Simultaneously, Defense Minister Israel Katz concluded a high-level operational assessment at Central Command alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, and senior military commanders.
Briefing officials on the sector’s threat matrix, counterterror operations, and community expansion, Katz highlighted data showing a historic decline in Palestinian terror attacks across Judea and Samaria for the second consecutive year—reaching unprecedented lows. Katz praised the IDF and Shin Bet, attributing the dramatic drop to the government’s aggressive offensive posture—particularly the policy of clearing northern Samaria refugee camps, dismantling terror hubs, and establishing permanent IDF operational presence. “These decisive actions have crushed terror capabilities and driven this historic decline,” Katz concluded.