Middle East crisis: Israel reduces ground troops in southern Gaza after six months of war

Palestinians who had taken refuge in Rafah in the Gaza Strip leave to return to Khan Younis after Israel said it had withdrawn a division of soldiers from the town.Credit...Mohammed Abed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Israeli military said it withdrew a division of ground troops from southern Gaza on Sunday, raising questions about its plans as the war reached the six-month mark.

Israel has significantly reduced the number of its troops on the ground in Gaza in recent months. Only a fraction of the soldiers it deployed to the territory earlier in the war remain.

The army said that the 98th division had left. Khan Younis in southern Gaza in order to “recover and prepare for future operations”. Israeli media reported that the withdrawal of the 98th meant that there were no longer any Israeli troops actively maneuvering in southern Gaza.

It is unclear what the latest withdrawal of forces was planned for an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, the southernmost town of Gaza, where more than a million people have sought refuge.

< p class="live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0" Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the army was preparing for "follow-on missions" including Rafah. “We will reach a point where Hamas no longer controls the Gaza Strip and will no longer function as a military cadre that poses a threat to the citizens of the State of Israel,” he said.

The Biden administration has warned that a ground invasion of Rafah would be catastrophic and pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek alternatives. But Mr Netanyahu insisted on Sunday that Israel was determined to “complete the elimination of Hamas throughout the Gaza Strip, including Rafah”.

Oussama Asfour, 41, a resident of Khan Younis who is sheltering in a tent in Rafah, said the army's announcement made him not want to return to his town – and his house destroyed – anytime soon.

“The military might say they left today, but they can come back tomorrow,” Mr. Asfour, who had worked at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said in a statement. interview. “I am not going to go on an adventure with my life and that of my family.”

Even so, Ahmed al-Soufi, a local Rafah official said he noticed some displaced people from the town returning to Khan Younis on Sunday.

A senior official from Rafah The White House official said he wasn't sure what the 98th Division's withdrawal meant for the future of the war.

"It's hard to know exactly what this means. is telling us right now,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on ABC’s “This Week.” "From what we understand, and through their public announcements, this is really just a matter of rest and refitting for these troops who have been on the ground for four months, and not necessarily, as we We can say it, which is indicative of a new operation to come for these troops. "

The departure of the 98th took place about four months after Israeli forces invaded southern Gaza. Since the start of the war, the army has returned to areas of Gaza it had previously left, including in the north. Military officials have said that Hamas had attempted to reestablish itself in parts of the north following Israel's withdrawal.

Last week, the army withdrew from Al-Shifa H...