Israeli officials say Israel is withdrawing some troops from Gaza as it shifts to a more targeted operation against Hamas, and is drawing some of its reservists to provide economic support as the war is expected to continue into the new year. The department is returning to civilian life.
Five brigades, or thousands of troops, will be withdrawn from Gaza in the coming weeks for training and rest, the military said in a statement on Monday.
Officials interviewed by Reuters said some forces were preparing for a possible escalation of a second front against Hezbollah in Lebanon, but the goal remained to defeat Islamist forces in the Palestinian territories. Ta.
Since starting the war in retaliation for the Oct. 7 cross-border Hamas attack, Israeli officials have said they would wage the war in three main phases. The first was heavy artillery bombardment to secure entry routes for ground troops and to encourage the evacuation of civilians. The second was an invasion that began on October 27th.
Tanks and troops have overrun large parts of the Gaza Strip and Palestinian militants continue to ambush from hidden tunnels and bunkers, claiming most control and forcing the military into a third phase. is transitioning, officials said. Confidentiality of the issue.
“This will take at least six months and will include intensive mopping-up missions against terrorists. No one is talking about peace doves flying from Shajaia,” the official told Reuters. He spoke while referring to the Gaza Strip.
In addition to the 1,200 people killed on October 7, Hamas took about 240 people hostage. Israel is also determined to recover the 129 people still held in Gaza. Ceasefire efforts brokered by Qatar and Egypt are raising the possibility that some of them will be released.
The changes appear to be in response to pressure from the United States, Israel’s biggest ally, to rethink tactics and increase protection for non-combatants.
As millions of people scramble for all kinds of shelter in Gaza, Israel claims it is trying to make its military operations more “surgical” to reduce civilian casualties, while Hamas’ It also warned that the suppression operation could last several months.
Some troops approach Lebanon
Israel initially drafted 300,000 reservists, about 10 to 15 percent of its workforce, for what is likely to be the longest war in history. Government sources say between 200,000 and 250,000 reservists are still mobilized and absent from work or school.
The official said two of the departing brigades were made up of reservists and that the move was aimed at “reinvigorating Israel’s economy.” Local media reported that several military divisions were deployed across Gaza.
The official added that some of the troops withdrawn from southern Gaza are ready to be rotated to the northern border with Lebanon, where Hezbollah is engaged in a gunfight with Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.
The next six months are critical, officials say
Israel has warned of looming all-out war in Lebanon if Hezbollah does not withdraw. Hamas and Hezbollah are both backed by Iran, and their militant allies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen also carry out long-range attacks against Israel.
“The situation on the Lebanon front cannot be allowed to continue. The next six months are critical,” the official said, adding that Israel would convey a similar message to the US envoy conducting the shuttle mission to Beirut.
The war between Israel and Hamas has caused unprecedented devastation in Gaza, with the region’s health ministry reporting around 22,000 deaths, many of them civilians. Israel says it has killed more than 8,000 Palestinian fighters, which by Israel’s own calculations suggests Hamas retains its core personnel. Pre-war Israeli estimates put the group at about 30,000 fighters.
Israel lists 174 soldiers, many of them reservists, killed in fighting in Gaza and nine killed on the Lebanese border.
Deaths reported in missile attack in central Gaza
At least eight people were killed and more than 20 injured when a missile struck a house in the central Gazanian city of Deir al-Balah late Monday. The dead and injured were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Further information about the explosion was not immediately available.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health announced on Monday that 156 people had been killed in the past day.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced that an airstrike killed Adel Misma, the regional commander of Hamas’s elite Nuhuba force, in the central city of Deir al-Balah.
Just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, Hamas launched a massive rocket attack into Israel, including the commercial hub of Tel Aviv.
