Israel plans to withdraw some troops from Gaza
The Israeli military announced Monday that it will begin withdrawing several thousand troops from Gaza, at least temporarily, in what would be the most significant publicly announced withdrawal since the war began.
The military cited a growing toll on Israel’s economy after nearly three months of wartime mobilization with no end in sight to the fighting. But the withdrawals also come as the army considers scaling back its operations in a new phase of the battle; The United States has urged Israel to do so more quickly as the death toll in Gaza continues to rise, with more than 20,000 dead, local health authorities said.
Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, stressed that the move to demobilize some soldiers did not indicate any compromise on Israel’s intention to continue fighting, and he made no mention of US requests to scale back. He indicated that some will be called back into service in the coming year. And fighting remains fierce across Gaza.
Reservists from at least two brigades will be sent home this week, the Israeli army said in a statement, and three brigades will be brought back for training.
“It is expected that this step will significantly ease economic burdens and allow them to gather strength for upcoming activities in the coming year,” the Israeli military said.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is expected to return to Israel in early January for further talks on the war, according to U.S. officials, after meeting a top Netanyahu aide in Washington last week alongside Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser. The three discussed moving to a different phase of the war to “maximize focus on high-value Hamas targets,” a White House official said.
Israel began its campaign against Hamas after 1,200 people were killed in an attack by the Palestinian armed group in Israel and more than 240 people were taken hostage, Israeli authorities said. In response, the Israeli government launched a campaign to overthrow the Hamas regime in Gaza and authorized the mobilization of more than 350,000 reservists for the war effort.
The call added to the economic burden faced by hundreds of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes on Israel’s borders after the attacks. Israel’s economy is expected to contract 2 percent this quarter, the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, a nonpartisan think tank in Israel, said in late December, as many left the workforce for backup services or left businesses in their hometowns.
Israeli leaders have continued to tell the public to expect a long military campaign, even as some critics have expressed skepticism about whether the goal of eliminating Hamas is ultimately achievable.
“The objectives of the war require prolonged fighting and we are preparing accordingly,” Rear Adm. Hagari told reporters in a televised news briefing on Sunday evening.
But Israeli officials have said they plan to eventually move to a new phase of the war, which will see more targeted attacks against Hamas than the large-scale ground invasion we have seen so far.
In the Gaza Strip, months of war have displaced more than 85 percent of Gaza’s more than two million residents, according to the United Nations. Many of them have crowded into shrinking safe zones in the south of the enclave. Many have sought shelter in hospitals and schools, where the search for enough food and water has become a daily ordeal.
Fighting continued Monday night. Shortly after midnight – just after Israelis and Palestinians had ushered in the new year – Hamas took responsibility for a rocket fire from Gaza, sending dozens of people fleeing to bomb shelters in central Israel.
Israeli forces also struck targets in northern and central Gaza, the Israeli army said on Monday, claiming to have eliminated a militant Hamas commander. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas.