The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Israel pulls some troops out of Gaza
Israel’s military announced it has withdrawn its forces from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, wrapping up a key phase in its ground offensive against the Hamas militant group and bringing its troop presence in the territory to one of the lowest levels since the six-month war began.
Military officials said a “significant force” remained in Gaza and would preserve the army’s “freedom of action” to continue operations across the territory, including Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold that has been Israel’s main focus for several months.
Still, the withdrawal was a significant milestone as Israel and Hamas marked six months of fighting. The Israeli officials said the 98th paratroopers division would recuperate and prepare for future operations.
Israel previously claimed to have dismantled Hamas forces in Khan Younis, the hometown of the group’s leader, Yehya Sinwar.
AP video in Khan Younis yesterday showed some people returning to a landscape marked by shattered multi-storey buildings and climbing over debris to explore crumbled, dusty remains.
Israel has vowed a ground offensive on the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah, considered Hamas’s last stronghold, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet that victory means “elimination of Hamas in the entire Gaza Strip, including Rafah”.
But Rafah shelters some 1.4 million people – more than half of Gaza’s population. The prospect of an offensive has raised global alarm, including from top ally the US, which has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told ABC the US believes that the partial Israeli withdrawal “is really just about rest and refit for these troops and not necessarily indicative of some coming new operation for these troops”.
Israel’s military quietly drew down troops in devastated northern Gaza earlier in the war. The sixmonth mark has been met with growing frustration in Israel, where antigovernment protests have swelled and anger is mounting over what some see as government inaction to help free about 130 remaining hostages.
Hamas-led militants took about 250 captives when they crossed from Gaza into Israel on October 7 and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Negotiations in pursuit of a ceasefire in exchange for the hostages’ release were expected to resume in Cairo yesterday.
“Israel is prepared for a deal. Israel is not prepared to surrender,” Mr Netanyahu said, and asserted that international pressure on Israel “is only causing Hamas to harden its positions”.
“This doesn’t seem a war against terror. This doesn’t seem any more a war about defending Israel. This really, at this point, seems it’s a war against humanity itself,” chef Jose Andres told ABC, days after an Israeli air strike killed seven of his World Central Kitchen colleagues in Gaza.