Published January 2, 2024
CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM, Jan 2 (Reuters) – Israeli forces attacked Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip with tank fire and air strikes on Tuesday, residents said, and Israeli ground troops and Hamas militants also battled in other parts of the shattered Palestinian enclave.
Israel said its troops had killed dozens of militants in Gaza’s north in the past day. Residents said Israeli tanks had shelled parts of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central area. The Gaza health ministry said 207 people had been killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total recorded Palestinian death toll to more than 22,000 in nearly three months of warfare in the Hamas-ruled enclave.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the operations in the south around Khan Younis were focused on areas above the tunnel network where Hamas leaders were believed to be hiding.
“We are reaching them all ways. There already is engagement and there are hostages there too sadly,” he told troops in Gaza in footage shown on Israeli television.
“This will continue as high intensity efforts in the heart of Khan Younis,” he said.
The latest fighting took place after Israel announced plans to pull back some troops, signalling a new phase in the war against Hamas amid global concern over the plight of Gaza residents.
Israeli bombardments have reduced much of the territory to rubble and engulfed its 2.3 million residents in a humanitarian disaster in which many thousands have been left destitute and threatened by famine due to a lack of food supplies. Israeli officials say the offensive has many months to run.
In a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, Shadi Maarouf, his wife Safeya and their six children gathered around a campfire, braving the cold and dark.
After a perilous journey from their home in Beit Lahia in the north, constantly fleeing Israeli air strikes, they ended up in a tent in Rafah with no basic amenities.
“We have nothing. We are living in cold, as you can see. We use straps of clothes for the fire, there is no firewood,” Maarouf told Reuters.
“There is no water even to clean up or wash ourselves. If I want to pray, I perform ablution using the sand. There is no drinking water. There is no tent to protect us.”
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SOURCE: www.reuters.com
RELATED: Israel reveals it is pulling thousands of troops out of Gaza but warns of ‘prolonged’ fighting that will continue ‘throughout 2024’
- Israel has been under pressure to switch to lower-intensity fighting in Gaza
- IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said they were preparing for continued fighting
Israeli soldiers walk next to tanks in southern Israel, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas [Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters]
Published January 1, 2024
The Israeli military has announced that it will withdraw thousands of its soldiers from the besieged Gaza Strip in the first significant pullback of troops since the war there began in October.
Israel has come under increasing pressure from its principal ally, the United States, to move to a more low-intensity war that has fewer civilian casualties.
But in the southern city of Khan Younis, fierce fighting has continued as Israel reaffirms its pledge to press on with the war until its goals have been achieved, including destroying the Palestinian group Hamas, which killed around 1,140 people in attacks on southern Israel on October 7, according to Israeli officials.
In a statement, the military said on Monday that five brigades, or several thousand troops, were being taken out of the enclave for training and rest.
Army spokesperson Daniel Hagari did not say whether the decision meant the war was entering into a new phase during a briefing on Sunday that first announced the troop withdrawal.
“The objectives of the war require prolonged fighting, and we are preparing accordingly,” he said.
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
RELATED: Israel to withdraw some troops from Gaza but expects fighting will continue through 2024
Israeli soldiers organize tank shells after returning from the Gaza Strip on January 1, at Israel’s southern border.
Published January 1, 2024
Israel will begin pulling thousands of soldiers out of Gaza this week in preparation for a new phase of the conflict, the military announced Monday, though a top official warned that he expected the fighting to continue throughout the year.
The announcement from the Israel Defense Forces marked the biggest known withdrawal of troops from the territory since the war against Hamas began and comes after the military said it was expanding operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
A senior US official said Monday that the move shows signs of the country’s gradual shift to a lower-intensity phase of its war.
The 551st and 14th brigades – comprised of reservists – will return to their families and civilian lives this week, the IDF said in a statement.
The 828th brigade, which trains squad commanders; the 261st brigade, which trains army officers; and the 460th brigade, which trains the armored corps, will return to their scheduled training, the IDF said.
The statement said the move is expected to “significantly alleviate economic burdens” and the troops “to gather strength for upcoming activities in the next year, as the fighting will persist, and their services will still be needed.”
In a briefing on Sunday, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the return of the reservists was aimed at ensuring “planning and preparation for the continuation of 2024… understanding that we will be required for additional tasks and warfare throughout this year.” The objectives of the war “require prolonged fighting,” he added.
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SOURCE: www.edition.cnn.com
