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The Israeli navy mentioned it withdrew a division of floor troops from southern Gaza on Sunday, elevating questions over its plans because the battle approaches the six-month mark.
The military mentioned the 98th Division had left Khan Yunis in southern Gaza to “recuperate and put together for future operations”. Israeli information media reported that the withdrawal of the 98th meant that no Israeli troops had been actively conducting maneuvers in southern Gaza.
It was unclear what the withdrawal of forces meant for the opportunity of an Israeli floor assault on Rafah, Gaza's southernmost metropolis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to assault town regardless of warnings from the Biden administration {that a} floor offensive could be devastating to the multiple million Gazans taking refuge there.
On Sunday, Mr Netanyahu mentioned Israel was “dedicated to eliminating Hamas in your entire Gaza Strip, together with Rafah.”
The military mentioned its forces would stay in different components of Gaza to take care of their “freedom of motion and skill to conduct exact intelligence-based operations”.
Osama Asfour, a 41-year-old resident of Khan Younis, who’s sheltering in a tent in Rafah, mentioned the military's announcement makes him much less prone to return to his city any time quickly.
“The military might say it left at the moment, however they might come again tomorrow,” Mr. Asfour, who labored at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, mentioned in an interview. “I'm not happening any journey with my life and my household's life at stake.”
One other concern, Mr Asfour mentioned, was that his home was destroyed.
The departure of the 98th got here practically 4 months after Israeli forces invaded southern Gaza. For the reason that starting of the battle, the military has returned to areas of Gaza the place its forces had beforehand moved, particularly within the north. Army officers have mentioned that Hamas has tried to re-establish itself in components of the north following the Israeli withdrawal.
Final week, the military withdrew from Al-Shifa hospital within the north after a two-week-long operation. It first raided the hospital in November. This time the troopers left a wasteland after a protracted encounter with Palestinian militants in and across the compound.