Israel To Pull Thousands Of Troops From Gaza: What Does It Mean?

(MENAFN- Live Mint) "The Israel military announced on Monday that it is withdrawing some forces from war-hit Gaza to shift them to more targeted operations against Hamas, Reuters reported. This is likely to be a temporary move but the“most significant” one as this is the first pullback of troops announced by Israel since the beginning of the war in October 2023 military said in a statement on Monday that five brigades, or several thousand troops, were being taken out of Gaza in the coming weeks for training and rest. Besides this, the Israel military has also decided to partially return reservists to civilian life to help the economy as the war looks set to last well into the new year.
What could the pullback mean?Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari was quoted by the New York Times as saying that the move to demobilise some soldiers does not indicate any compromise on Israel's intention to continue fighting. He, however, indicated that some will be called back to service in the coming year.\"Some of the 300,000 army reservists would get a break from the war, in order to prepare for the 'prolonged fighting' ahead,\" Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari was quoted by AFP as saying 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, the Associated Press reported.
However, Israel warned the Gaza war will continue throughout 2024 as unrelenting strikes killed dozens in the Palestinian territory and Hamas fired a rocket barrage at the stroke of midnight announcement of pulling back troops came as Israel remain under pressure from its chief ally, the United States, to begin to switch to lower-intensity fighting. It came ahead US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to the region and after the Biden administration bypassed Congress for the second time this month to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel 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 US pressure. He said it indicated a shift in how Israel was conducting the war in some areas.“The war is not stopping,” said Brom.“It is the beginning of a different mode of operation.”However, in a briefing on Sunday, army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari did not say whether the decision meant Israel was launching a new phase of the war.“The objectives of the war require prolonged fighting, and we are preparing accordingly,” he was quoted by the Associated Press as saying in parts of Gaza continuesFierce fighting continued in other areas of Gaza, especially the southern city Khan Younis and central areas of the territory. Israel has vowed to continue its offence in Gaza ahead until its war aims have been achieved. Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier pledged to dismantle Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years war between Israel and Hamas started on October 7. The Palestinian militant group launched surprise attacks in parts of Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 people as hostage responded with a blistering air, ground and sea offensive that has killed more than 21,900 people in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza said more than 8,000 militants have been killed, without providing evidence. It blames Hamas for the high civilian death toll, saying the militants embed within residential areas, including schools and hospitals war has displaced some 85 per cent of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, sending swells of people seeking shelter in Israeli-designated safe areas that the military has nevertheless bombed. Palestinians are left with a sense that nowhere is safe in the tiny enclave.(With inputs from agencies)

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