The Israeli Army, the Red Crescent and the Gaza Strip: Israel’s First Day of the Second Israeli-Salt-Fermion War
The troop movement could signal that fighting is being scaled back in some areas of Gaza, particularly in the northern half where the military has said it is close to assuming operational control. Israel has been under pressure from its chief ally, the United States, to begin to switch to lower-intensity fighting.
Word of the drawdown came ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region and after the Biden administration bypassed Congress for the second time this month to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel.
The war will last for months, according to Israel. It has argued that it needs time to clear Gaza of militants’ weapons and infrastructure and to prevent Hamas from being able to stage more attacks. Israel has resisted international calls for a long-term cease-fire, saying doing so would amount to a victory for Hamas.
In a briefing Sunday that first announced the troop withdrawal without specifying how many forces were leaving, army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari did not say whether the decision meant Israel was launching a new phase of the war.
According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, two-thirds of the people who have died are women and children, and that doesn’t differentiate between civilians and fighters.
In Khan Younis, where Israel is believed to have thousands of troops, residents reported airstrikes and shelling in the west and center of the city. The military and Islamic Jihad clashed in the area.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on X, formerly Twitter, that it transported several dead and injured following a strike late Sunday in the Beach Street in Khan Younis. It posted nighttime footage showing medics carrying casualties to ambulances.
“It’s our routine: bombs and massacres,” said a Palestinian from the Nuseirat camp. He heard gunfire in the Maghazi camps and explosions in Nuseirat.
The Israeli military said an airstrike killed a Hamas commander in the central city of Deir al-Balah.
The troop withdrawal signaled a shift in Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack and how the United States is confronting the problem
Shlomo Brom, a retired brigadier general once in charge of strategic planning in the Israeli military, said the troop changes may be a result of the U.S. pressure. He said that it indicated a change in how Israel was conducting the war.
According to the military, of the 172 soldiers killed since the ground operation began, 18 were killed by friendly fire, while another 11 were killed by weapons or equipment malfunction.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis fled their homes on Israel’s borders following the Hamas attack, and the call-up added to their economic burden. The Israeli economy will shrink by 2 percent this quarter, as many workers abandon their hometowns for reserve duty or abandon abandoned businesses, according to a nonpartisan think tank in Israel.
He did not mention the American requests to scale back, and Israeli officials have not declared any shift toward a more limited, targeted phase of the war in Gaza, though they have said such a transition would come.
But military analysts and U.S. officials say the troop withdrawal probably signals that such a change has begun, though they caution that the war is nowhere near over.
“This move is expected to significantly alleviate economic burdens and enable them to gather strength for upcoming activities in the next year,” the military said.
A day after Christmas, a group of people, including Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, met for nearly four hours with another at the White House. The three discussed pivoting to a different phase of the war to “maximize focus on high-value Hamas targets,” a White House official said.
“The withdrawal is a clear signal that the fight is entering a new phase, in line with what the U.S. has been asking for,” said Lt. Gen. Mark C. Schwartz, a retired U.S. Special Operations commander who formerly served as the American security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. There will be more operations against Hamas leadership going forward.
Yossi Kuperwasser, a retired Israeli brigadier general, agreed that the drawdown reflected the military’s gradual transition to that next part of the war, even as intense battles continued in southern Gaza.
“In substantial parts of northern Gaza, we’re ready to advance to the next stage” of the fighting, General Kuperwasser said. We can reduce our forces there because we have control. To hold on, you need fewer than it took to take over.”
Israel’s defense minister told residents of seven towns near the Gaza border that they can return to their homes soon.
The chaos unfolds in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli attack on December 13, 2015 – a telephone interview with Hanin Abu Tiba
They have found shelter in overcrowded, unsanitary hospitals and makeshift camps where they have to constantly search for food and water.
Hanin Abu Tiba, a 27-year-old English teacher sheltering at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, described an atmosphere of desperation at the hospital, which has been flooded with wounded patients and hungry refugees. She said in the phone interview that a crowd of displaced people descend on trucks when aid convoys arrive. She stated that police officers in Gaza watch the chaos unfold.
People are fighting each other to get the same number of dates. “As soon as people hear that something’s arrived, everyone starts running.”
Shortly after midnight — just after Israelis and Palestinians rang in the New Year — Hamas took responsibility for a rocket barrage from Gaza that sent scores fleeing to bomb shelters in central Israel.
The Israeli military said on Monday that they struck targets in the northern and central parts of the Gaza Strip. There was no immediate confirmation by Hamas.
The Supreme Court of Israel struck down a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reorganization plan the same day the confirmation of the troop withdrawal was made. The plan, which was the source of deep divisions inside Israel, threatened the military’s readiness before the start of the war.
Netanyahu has vowed to continue with the military offensive until the more than 100 hostages in Gaza are freed.
The war has displaced some 85% of Gaza’s population, forcing tens of thousands of people in overcrowded shelters or teeming tent camps in Israeli-designated safe areas that the military has nevertheless bombed. The Palestinians have a sense that nowhere is safe.
Israel pulls thousands of troops from Gaza, a possible sign of scaled-back offensive: “It’s not the Fourth Day for Political Arguments”
With tensions high across the region, the United States announced Monday that it would send an aircraft carrier strike group home and replace it with an amphibious assault ship and accompanying warships.
An Associated Press reporter saw at least 17 bodies, including those of four children, at a hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah after a missile struck a house.
In Israel, it was announced that Ilan Weiss is believed to have been dead. Weiss’ daughter, Noga Weiss, 18; and wife, Shiri Weiss, 53; were held in captivity in Gaza and released on Nov. 25 during a weeklong cease-fire.
The Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to strike down part of Netanyahu’s judicial proposal could cause some fissures in the country’s society that were caused by the war against Hamas.
Benny Gantz, a rival of Netanyahu’s who joined the three-member War Cabinet, called on all sides to put aside their differences and focus on the war. “These are not days for political arguments. He said there were no winners or losers today.
The court’s decision was a close one, as it narrowly voted to overturn the law that prevented judges from striking down government decisions. The law that was passed in July is the first part of the plan to limit unelected judges.
The Lebanon-Israel border conflict in light of recent U.S.-Israel and Houthi attacks on civilian cargo ships in the Mediterranean and Red Sea
Since the latest exchange of fire began along the Lebanon-Israel border on Oct. 8, 133 Hezbollah fighters and around 20 civilians have been killed in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have fired long-range missiles at Israel and attacked civilian cargo ships in the Red Sea.
The United States has sent warships to the Mediterranean and Red Seas, providing protection for Israel and underscoring concerns that the fighting could widen.