Over the weekend, Israel withdrew troops from southern Gaza, particularly from the city of Khan Yunis, and moved them to the other side of the perimeter of the strip, in a tactical movement according to military needs but which coincides with needs. policies due to the United States' distaste for its Israeli ally's conduct of the war. Basically, it is actually about, and as the experts already announced, the departure of Khan Yunis is part of the attack plan on the city of Rafah, in the extreme south of the territory.
This was confirmed yesterday by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant when he said he had withdrawn his troops to “prepare for the continuation of missions,” including an operation in Rafah. “Our forces are preparing to continue their missions (... ) in the Rafa area,” he stated.
The army statement said yesterday: “Today, Sunday, April 7, the Israeli army's 98th Commando Division completed its mission in Khan Younis. "The division left the Gaza Strip to (...) prepare for future operations." The army added that a “significant force” would continue to operate in the small Palestinian territory in accordance with its strategic needs, in the seventh month of a devastating war waged by Israel against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
“A significant force led by the 162nd Division and the Nahal Brigade continues to operate in the Gaza Strip to ensure the army's freedom of action and its ability to conduct precise operations based on intelligence,” the army underlines in its statement. The Nahal Brigade, which maintains the partition of the strip, is currently the only operational unit, which effectively means a reduction in forces. But the fact that the withdrawn troops remain outside the perimeter – one hour away, it was said – means that they will be able to enter the strip again when the high command demands it, at least in specific actions.
The Israeli newspapers Haaretz and Yediot Ajronot maintain that the withdrawal of the infantry from the south of the strip is motivated by the fact that the army has achieved its objectives there. According to a military official cited by Haaretz, Israel “no longer needs to remain in the strategic sector,” since “the 98th Division dismantled the Hamas brigades in Khan Younis and killed thousands of their members. We did everything we had to do there.”
In this regard, said withdrawal of troops should not mislead the much-announced offensive on Rafah, in the extreme south of the territory, which shelters one and a half million Gazans. Israeli Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu said yesterday, the day that marked six months since the Hamas attack on Israeli territory, that “we are one step away from victory.” Ron Ben Yishai, of Yediot Ahronot, pointed out yesterday that “it is not necessary to be a military expert to understand that the return to their homes of the hundreds of thousands of residents of the Khan Younis area who fled to Rafah will be part of the great plan of evacuation” of the army in the Rafah area “so that the four remaining battalions of the Hamas brigades in Rafah can finally be dismantled” and the tunnels on the border with Egypt “be blocked.”
In other words, it would be about forcing the population to move again, this time towards the north, to break into Rafah as Netanyahu has been insisting. Thus, an AFP photographer could see yesterday dozens of people leaving Rafah in the direction of Khan Yunis, on foot, by car or in donkey carts.
According to Omer Dostri, an expert at the Washington Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), cited by Afp, the evacuation of civilians, "within two months there will be an operation in Rafah to destroy the remaining Hamas brigades." And, once Hamas is eliminated from Gaza, Israel will “launch a campaign in the north” against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army has exchanged fire almost daily with the Lebanese Shiite militia since October 7.
But for Omer Dostri the main reason for the weekend's withdrawal is “the great pressure” recently exerted by Washington. Last Thursday, US President Joe Biden raised for the first time the possibility of conditioning his aid to Israel on “tangible” measures to improve the humanitarian situation and the preservation of civilians in Gaza.
The reduction of Israeli forces on the ground “may be useful in the context of negotiations” for a truce and the return of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, Dostri explained.
In this sense, Egyptian sources said yesterday that a "humanitarian pause" is being considered during the Eid el Fitr day, which marks the end of Ramadan, from tomorrow Tuesday to Wednesday. The director of Mossa, David Barnea; The Shin Bet (internal security), Ronen Bar, and General Nitzam Alon traveled to Cairo yesterday morning.
