TEL AVIV, Israel – Thousands of Israeli soldiers were evacuated from the Gaza Strip, the army said on Monday, in the first significant troop withdrawal since the war began as forces continued to attack a key city in the southern part of the territory. enclave.
The military move could signal that fighting is easing in some areas of Gaza, particularly in the north where the army has said it is close to taking control of the operation.
Israel has been under pressure from its main ally, the United States, to begin shifting to low-intensity fighting.
News of the withdrawal comes ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the region and after the Biden administration bypassed Congress for the second time this month to approve an emergency arms sale to Israel.
But heavy fighting continues in other areas of Gaza, particularly the southern city of Khan Younis and the central region of the province.
Israel has pledged to press ahead until its war goals are achieved, including dismantling Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years.
The military said in a statement Monday that five brigades, or several thousand troops, were being pulled out of Gaza in the coming weeks for training and rest.
A man stands on the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli bombing smoking a cigarette in the Rafah refugee camp, south of the Gaza Strip, on January 1, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
In a Sunday briefing that first announced the troop withdrawal without specifying how many would go, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari did not say whether the decision meant Israel was launching a new phase of the war.
“The war objective requires a prolonged battle, and we are preparing,” he said.
Israel has vowed to destroy the military and government capabilities of Hamas in its war, which was sparked by the militant group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people. About 240 people were taken hostage.
Israel responded with a blistering air, ground and sea attack that has killed more than 21,800 people in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in the numbers.
Israel says more than 8,000 terrorists have been killed, without providing evidence. It blamed Hamas for the high civilian death toll, saying the militants entered residential areas, including schools and hospitals.
The war has left about 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents homeless, causing people to seek refuge in Israeli-designated safe areas that have nevertheless been bombed by the military.
Palestinians are left with the feeling that there is no safe place in the small area.
THE BATTLE IN THE SOUTH
In Khan Younis, where Israel is believed to have thousands of troops, residents reported airstrikes and gunfire in the west and center of the city. The army and the Islamic Jihad militant group reported clashes in the area.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on X, previously Twitter, that it was transporting several dead and injured following a strike late Sunday on Beach Road in Khan Younis. It aired nighttime footage showing medics taking the victim to an ambulance.
The sun rises over the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip on January 1, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. AFP via Getty Images An Israeli military vehicle moves near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in southern Israel, on Dec. 31, 2023. REUTERS
Fighting was also reported in an urban refugee camp in central Gaza, where Israel expanded its offensive last week.
“It is our routine: bombings, massacres and martyrdom,” said Saeed Moustafa, a Palestinian from the Nuseirat camp. He said he could hear sporadic explosions and gunfire in Nuseirat and in nearby Bureij and Maghazi camps.
“Just as we were talking, there was a huge explosion not far from my house,” he said in a phone call Monday morning.
A girl stands at the door of a house destroyed in Israeli bombing in the Rafah refugee camp, south of the Gaza Strip, on January 1, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
The military said an airstrike killed Adel Mismah, the regional commander of the elite Nukhba Hamas force, in the city center of Deir al-Balah.
Hamas launched a massive rocket attack on Israel, including its commercial hub Tel Aviv, as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve.
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‘DIFFERENT MODES OF OPERATION’
Israel says the war will last for months. It argued that it needed time to clear Gaza of weapons and militant infrastructure and to prevent Hamas from being able to launch more attacks. Israel has rejected international calls for a long-term ceasefire, saying such action would bring victory to Hamas.
Shlomo Brom, a retired brigadier general who was once in charge of strategic planning in the Israeli army, said the military changes may be due to US pressure. He said it shows a change in the way Israel conducts war in several areas.
“The war doesn’t stop,” Brom said. “It’s the beginning of a different mode of operation.”
Israelis still largely support the war’s goals, even as the cost in soldier’s lives continues to rise.
Over the weekend, the military said that of the soldiers killed since the ground operation began — as of Monday, 172 in total — 18 were killed by friendly fire while another 11 died from weapon or equipment damage or accidents.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
