On the military and strategic value of occupying the Philadelphia Axis:
Analyzing the military and strategic value of this axis, it can be said that its occupation may give the enemy the opportunity to invade Rafah from a second axis, in addition to the eastern axis in which it is faltering to attack, but at the same time it exposes its forces to destruction due to the hell of mortars, especially since they will be in great proximity to the resistance forces.
As for the enemy’s promotion of the issue of occupying the axis as a launching pad that enables it to access tunnels or infrastructure for the resistance, this is just a propaganda move and nothing more, given that smuggling from tunnels has already stopped for a long time, and the resistance depends on itself for construction, development, and military accumulation.
Also, controlling this axis takes us back to the beginnings of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, when the enemy was extending its control over it, and the resistance did not have the amount of power it has today, neither in terms of combat personnel, nor in terms of firepower and infrastructure.
In those years, the resistance carried out several operations targeting enemy forces and positions stationed in that axis, which constituted a major strategic crisis for the enemy, which made it - in parallel with the storming of the Gush Ghatif settlements - accelerate the disengagement plan and an urgent exit from the Gaza Strip, and this was what happened in 2005. .
The first operation was the Salah al-Din Gate operation, “incineration site,” which was carried out by the Al-Qassam Brigades on September 26, 2001. It was an operation within the border strip separating Egypt and the Gaza Strip. It aimed to destroy a military site consisting of a three-story building inhabited by a number of people. Enemy soldiers targeted it by digging a tunnel about 150 meters long, booby-trapping it with a large amount of explosives, and destroying the site.
The second operation targeted the watchtower in the Yabna area, called the Hardoun Military Site, which was carried out by the Al-Qassam Brigades on December 13, 2003. It is a watchtower whose mission is focused on monitoring the security of the border strip with Egypt. It was established on the latest military and intelligence model, and is equipped with the most accurate photography mechanisms. And heavy machine guns. It was targeted through a tunnel about 200 meters long, where a quantity of explosives was planted under the tower and destroyed. The operation resulted in the killing and wounding of all force personnel inside the tower.
The third operation was Operation Volcanoes of Rage, a military operation carried out by the resistance on December 12, 2004, in cooperation between the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the “Fatah Falcons,” one of the military wings of the Fatah movement. The attack targeted the Israeli Rafah military crossing on the Gaza Strip border.
Therefore, it can be said that the occupation of the Philadelphia Axis has greater propaganda and political value than it has military value, as control over border axes and vital areas has great value indeed in classic wars between opposing armies, but it loses a large part of its value in guerrilla wars or battles between powers. It is not symmetrical, and the enemy, which was quick to give up the presence of its forces in the Netzarim axis, will not hesitate to withdraw its forces from this axis and all areas of the Gaza Strip, lest they remain vulnerable to danger..