On Sunday (7th April), an Israel Defence Force (IDF) Spokesperson said that the Israeli military has withdrawn all ground troops, except one brigade, from the southern Gaza Strip. However, the military didn’t give further details including the number of soldiers involved.
The IDF also announced that it has concluded the active invasion stage of the war for now. However, the announcement left room for the possibility of a future new invasion of Rafah in deep southern Gaza, Jerusalem Post reported.
According to reports, the IDF believes that raids based on new intelligence, like the operation at Shifa Hospital and others in northern Gaza, are a more effective way to operate against Hamas terrorists.
According to the Jerusalem Post, at one point, the IDF had five divisions, between 30,000 and 40,000 ground forces, deep into Gaza. It had even larger forces circling the Strip. Following the reduction, the IDF has withdrawn all of Division 98 from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza while maintaining one plus brigades – the Nahal brigade and portions of Brigade 401 – in northern and central Gaza.
From December onwards, Division 98 has been neutralising Hamas terrorists in and around Khan Yunis. Jerusalem Post reported that a major reason for keeping Division 98 in Khan Yunis was to achieve concessions from Hamas in the hostage exchange negotiations.
The complete troop withdrawal, except for one brigade, comes six months after the start of the Israeli ground offensive in retaliation to the 7th October terror attack by Hamas.
Notably, the Israeli military has been significantly reducing the number of troops in Gaza since mid-January when the IDF declared it had achieved operational control of northern Gaza. The continued troop withdrawal is aimed at relieving reservists and easing the diplomatic pressure from its Western ally, particularly the United States which had been pressing on Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Further, the decision came less than two days after Israel opened the Erez Crossing and Ashdod port for humanitarian aid. Reportedly, the move followed US threats of cutting weapons support after Israel had repeatedly refused these requests from the Biden administration for months.
As per Israeli media, this comes amidst reports that Egypt is preparing to host a new round of talks to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas leadership.
However, it is still unclear whether the conclusion of an active invasion in Southern Gaza would delay or avert a long-threatened incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israeli leaders have asserted that it is needed to eliminate the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Palestinian enclave.
Nonetheless, hours before troops were pulled out from the Gaza Strip, the IDF revealed that the troops of the Commando Brigade located a 900-meter-long tunnel in the al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Younis. The IDF added that, inside the tunnel, the troops found rooms where Hamas terrorists would reside, along with a large cache of weapons.
The IDF further stated that the tunnel was later demolished by combat engineers and next to one of the tunnel entrances, a gunman was also killed.
Israel-Hamas war
The Israel-Hamas war began exactly six months earlier on 7th October 2023 when Hamas terrorists, in a shock attack, invaded Southern Israel from land, sea, and air to kill over 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped over 254 Israeli and foreign nationals which prompted Israel to launch a retaliatory ground action after weeks of aerial bombardment on the Palestinian enclave.
