Israel is withdrawing thousands of troops from the Gaza Strip as fighting focuses on the enclave’s main southern city. According to the Hamas health ministry, 21,900 people have died since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.
Thousands of Israeli troops are leaving the Gaza Strip, the army said Monday, in the first significant troop reduction since the start of the war, as forces continue to attack the main city in the southern half of the enclave.
The troop movement could indicate that fighting is easing in some areas of Gaza, particularly in the northern part where the army has said it is close to taking operational control. Israel has come under pressure from its main ally, the United States, to begin moving to lower-intensity fighting.
News of the troop reduction came before a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region and after the Biden administration (bypassing Congress for a second time) this month approved a sale of emergency weapons to Israel.
But fierce fighting continued in other areas of Gaza, particularly in the southern town of Khan Yunis and central areas of the territory. Israel has pledged to continue its action until its war objectives are achieved, including the dismantling of Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip for 16 years.
The Israeli army redeploys its brigades
The army said in a statement Monday that five brigades, or several thousand soldiers, would be evacuated from Gaza in the coming weeks for training and rest.
Army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari did not say whether the move meant Israel was entering a new phase of the war.
“The objectives of the war require prolonged fighting and we prepare accordingly,” he said.
Israel has vowed to crush Hamas’s military and administrative capabilities in its war, which was sparked by the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, and which killed 1,140 people. Around 240 people were taken hostage.
Israel responded with a devastating air, land and sea offensive, which killed more than 21,900 people in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.