The Israeli military concluded a significant stage of its ground offensive against the Hamas militant organization on Sunday by announcing the withdrawal of its forces from Khan Younis in southern Gaza. This move reduced the military’s troop presence in the region to one of the lowest points since the start of the six-month conflict.
Nevertheless, defense authorities stated that soldiers were just reorganizing in anticipation of the army’s advance into Rafah, Hamas’ final stronghold. Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the head of the armed forces, declared, “The war in Gaza continues, and we are far from stopping.”
According to local broadcaster Channel 13 TV, Israel was getting ready to start evacuating Rafah in less than a week, though it might take several months.
Nevertheless, the pullout marked a turning point as Israel and Hamas celebrated six months of fighting. Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under army policy, said a “significant force” remained in Gaza to continue targeted operations including in Khan Younis, hometown of the Hamas leader, Yehya Sinwar.
In Khan Younis, an AP video showed some individuals making their way back to a scene littered with broken-down multistory buildings and rubble that they had to clamber over. Vehicles were burned and flipped over. Nasser, the primary hospital in southern Gaza, was in disarray.
“Everything is just debris,” remarked a despondent Ahmad Abu al-Rish. “How is a human meant to live here when animals cannot?”
Israel has been promising a ground invasion in neighboring Rafah for weeks. Yet, over 1.4 million people—more than half of Gaza’s population—are housed in the city. The United States, Israel’s strongest ally, has expressed concern over the possibility of an offensive and has requested to see a workable strategy to protect civilians. Allowing people to go back to Khan Younis, which is close by, would ease some of the burden on Rafah.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby repeated on Sunday the U.S. opposition to a Rafah offensive and told ABC the U.S. believes that the partial Israeli withdrawal “is really just about rest and refit for these troops that have been on the ground for four months and not necessarily, that we can tell, indicative of some coming new operation for these troops.”
Israel’s military has continued to carry out airstrikes and raids in areas where Hamas has resurfaced, leaving Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, an empty shell. The six-month mark has led to growing frustration in Israel, with anti-government protests and anger mounting over government inaction to help free about 130 remaining hostages, about a quarter of whom Israel says are dead.
Hamas-led militants took about 250 captives when they crossed from Gaza into Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians.Several thousand protesters called for a “hostage deal now” at a rally outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, organized by hostages’ families. Negotiations in pursuit of a cease-fire in exchange for the hostages’ release were expected to resume in Cairo on Sunday.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that humanity has been all but abandoned in Gaza.The U.N. and partners now warn of “imminent famine” for more than 1 million people in Gaza as humanitarian workers urge Israel to loosen restrictions on the delivery of aid overland.
Thousands of aid trucks have been waiting to enter Gaza.Mothers who have given birth in Gaza since the war began are especially vulnerable. The Health Ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 38 people killed in Israel’s bombardment had been brought to the territory’s remaining functional hospitals in the past 24 hours. Over 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7.
(AP)
