Technology, drones and complexity: The IDF’s battle for Jabalya

There is a buzz in the air, a buzz that becomes a kind of whirring. Above our heads, a small quadcopter-type drone lifts off. Then, another one lifts off. They sound like locusts before the sound fades and the stillness of the war in Gaza returns.

This is Jabalya, one of the largest neighborhoods northeast of Gaza City, where the IDF has been fighting for a month, killing around 900 terrorists and apprehending hundreds.

This is my second time in Jabalya since October 7, 2023. It is also the second time in the neighborhood with the IDF’s Multidimensional Unit, which uses new technology and special weapons combined with special forces level of operations.

The unit was created several years ago as the IDF was seeking to shift from a large conventional force to be more nimble and technology-oriented. This was part of a more extensive process that saw the IDF reduce some conventional big army aspects, such as the number of regular company tanks and the number of combat helicopters, in favor of drones and other new platforms.

Today, the military understands that a big conventional army is vital to defeating enemies on multiple fronts. The reservists have been called up for most of the last year.

The Multidimensional Unit is critical to bridging the gaps between conventional units in the field, such as infantry and tank brigades, and knitting together the new technology with the old.

What that means on the ground in Jabalya is that the Multidimensional Unit uses drones and robotic unmanned vehicles, such as M113s, that have been repurposed for new unmanned missions to defeat a hidden enemy.

When I was first in Jabalya with this unit back in December 2023, Hamas had larger forces with thousands of armed men in Gaza City, comprising the northern Gaza brigade.

The IDF never routed these units; they were only dispersed and became guerrilla squads and cells, hiding out in the ruins and behind civilians, operating out of schools and hospitals.

The IDF chipped away at them back in December 2023 and into the spring, after which it turned its focus on fighting in Rafah in May before returning to the north a few times. In early October, the IDF geared up for a major operation to complete the task of clearing northern Gaza.

Going in two days before the war's first anniversary

How do you target terrorists who hide behind civilians?

Clearing Jabalya of terrorists who were hiding behind civilians meant separating the civilians and getting them to move south to the humanitarian zone. This took time.

The IDF has also cleared Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya of Hamas. Our drive from the border took us through Beit Lahiya and other neighborhoods north and northeast of Gaza City. These areas are all deserted; there are no people here. Much of the area is in ruins, with signs of fighting from the last year.

Along the coast, the waves are pretty, forming pipelines as they break. As the dirt roads, churned up by armed vehicles, go into the hills of Jabalya, they pass through more dense urban areas.

The buildings are in various states of ruin; some collapsed with rebar showing and concrete in piles; some of them standing but with some floors hanging like giant shingles, concrete slabs dangling improbably in mid-air.

Eventually, the destroyed areas give way to a built-up neighborhood of Jabalya that isn’t as damaged. The houses are deserted, and the IDF is using some of them for a position. The Multidimensional Unit is here using drones and unmanned M113s to help the IDF defeat Hamas remnants. 

We pass through the Kfir brigade’s area of operations and into the area where Givati infantry and the 401st armored brigade are fighting. Tanks of the 401st move by from time to time.

The 401st, like the rest of the 162nd Division, has been fighting in this war since the first days and has rarely had a rest. The men of the Multidimensional Unit are the same; the reservists here have spent most of the last year fighting.

In one of the buildings, we walk through a bottom-floor passageway that runs along a wall. This was a family home before the war. Now, there is the smell of sewage on the first floor, and on the second floor, the smell of food being cooked.

Armies survive on their stomachs, and men need to use the bathroom. These are the norms of any war.

In one room, the commander, Tal Ashur, is monitoring the situation in the sector. In another room, three men sit at a small table against a wall. Blankets are draped on the windows to black out the room and protect from snipers.

The men use tablets to guide drones. The drones can eliminate enemies through the use of munitions, and they can conduct surveillance. The concept is to “close the circle” faster when enemies pop up. The terrorists don’t pop up much these days because there are fewer of them, and they hide among civilians.

Before units like the Multidimensional Unit brought new technology to the field, infantry and tanks would have to call in drone strikes, which takes time. They might investigate threats themselves and could run into ambushes.

Using new precision technology, such as precision mortars called Iron Sting or the plethora of new drones that are arriving, gives units the ability to quickly close the circle in terms of timing, from seeing the enemy to confirming it to carrying out a precision strike.

One terrorist who emerges with an AK-47 doesn’t need to be taken out with warplanes and artillery collapsing a house. A small precision weapon can get rid of the threat cheaper and faster. 

The Multidimensional Unit is part of this process of using new technology, helping to see which technology works, and then moving that tech onto the larger forces. This means that there is a kind of sifting through various types of drones, robotics, sensors, and other systems to see what works on the battlefield.

This is where necessity is the mother of invention, and these battle-hardened soldiers are doing their best to bring the right technology to the frontlines. This is saving lives, not only of IDF soldiers but also of civilians in Gaza.

Before leaving Gaza, we walk through the courtyard of another former civilian home. There is a swing hanging from the bottom floor where children once played. A woman’s shoes are in a pile, along with other debris.

Nearby, there is a small box that must have been sent to the soldiers during the recent holidays. It has an Israeli flag on it and a message of “victory.”

In the rubble and dust with the drones overhead, we prepare to mount the Humvees again for the trip out. There has been a victory over terror in this sector. Other parts of Gaza remain ahead in this long war.