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.
Speaking under army policy, military officials stated that a “significant force” was still present in Gaza and that they would maintain their “freedom of action” to carry out targeted operations throughout the region, including the takeover of Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold that has been Israel’s primary target for several months.
Nevertheless, the pullout marked a critical turning point as Israel and Hamas commemorated six months of hostilities. The 98th Paratroopers Division would recover and get ready for more missions, according to Israeli officials. In the past, Israel asserted that it had destroyed Hamas forces in Khan Younis, the hometown of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the organization.
Rafah, in southern Gaza, is thought to be Hamas’ final stronghold. Israel has promised to launch a ground invasion there, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed his cabinet on Sunday that victory would mean “elimination of Hamas in the entire Gaza Strip, including Rafah.”
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However, over 1.4 million people—more than half of Gaza’s population—are housed in Rafah. The United States, Israel’s strongest ally, has expressed concern over the possibility of an offensive and has demanded to see a workable plan to protect civilians. Permitting people to go back to Khan Younis, which is close by, might ease some of the pressure on Rafah.
According to U.S. officials, the partial Israeli withdrawal “is 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,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told ABC.
Earlier in the war, Israel’s military withdrew its forces from the devastated northern Gaza. However, it has persisted in conducting raids and airstrikes in locations where it claims Hamas has reappeared, such as Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, leaving what the director of the World Health Organization referred to as “an empty shell.”
In Israel, where anti-government protests have increased and anger is rising over what some perceive to be government inaction to help free the approximately 130 hostages who are still held captive—roughly 25% of whom Israel claims are dead—the six-month mark has been met with growing frustration. When Hamas-led militants crossed into Israel from Gaza on October 7, they killed 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians, and took about 250 prisoners.
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On Sunday, talks to secure the release of the hostages in return for a cease-fire were scheduled to recommence in Cairo. An Israeli official, who wished to remain anonymous due to not being allowed to discuss the issue with the media, stated that a delegation headed by the head of the Mossad intelligence agency was scheduled to leave for Cairo.
Netanyahu declared, “Israel is prepared for a deal; Israel is not prepared to surrender.” He also claimed that the pressure Israel is under from other countries is “only causing Hamas to harden its positions.”
The need for immediate action increased.
It doesn’t appear that this is a war on terror. It no longer appears that this is a war to defend Israel. Days after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed seven of his coworkers at World Central Kitchen, chef Jose Andres told ABC that “this, at this point, seems it’s a war against humanity itself.” Deliveries of aid to the region via a vital new sea route were halted.
In a statement commemorating six months of conflict, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies declared that “Humanity has been all but abandoned” in Gaza.
As humanitarian workers push Israel to relax restrictions on the delivery of aid overland—the only way to meet soaring needs as some Palestinians forage for weeds to eat—the U.N. and its allies now warn of an “imminent famine” for over a million people in Gaza.
Particularly at risk are mothers who have given birth in Gaza since the start of the conflict.
38 victims of Israel’s bombardment have died, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and their bodies have been transferred in the last 24 hours to the few working hospitals on the territory. 33,175 people have reportedly died since the start of the war. It states that women and children make up two-thirds of the dead but does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
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The Israeli military kept losing soldiers, as evidenced by the four reported deaths in Khan Younis. According to Israel’s government, since October 7, over 600 Israeli soldiers have died, including 260 during the ground operation in Gaza.
A senior Iranian military advisor alerted Israel that none of its embassies were secure in the wake of last week’s strike in Damascus, which was attributed to Israel and resulted in the deaths of two senior Iranian generals and the destruction of an Iranian consulate structure, raising fears about a wider regional conflict.
The semi-official Tasnim agency quoted Gen. Rahim Safavi, a military advisor to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as saying, “None of the embassies of the (Israeli) regime are safe anymore.”
Israel has not stated outright that it is involved. Netanyahu declared that Israel was ready for any kind of reply. He declared, “We will harm those who harm us or plan to harm us.”
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