An Israeli army spokesman announced on Sunday that Israel has withdrawn most of its forces from the southern Gaza Strip. There are also not many Israeli military units left elsewhere in the region. however Army Commander Herzl Halevy announced And then: “The war in Gaza continues and we are far from over.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed on Sunday that Israel remains determined to destroy Hamas.
It is now unclear whether this will mean the end of the attack that Netanyahu announced earlier on the southern border town of Rafah, the last major stronghold of Hamas. The international community has been putting intense pressure on the Israeli government for weeks to refrain from such an attack, because there may also be many civilian casualties. There are about 1.3 million displaced people in Rafah.
After four months of fighting He has Section 98 Khan Yunis, the main city in the southern Gaza Strip, was evacuated. According to the army spokesman, they achieved their goal and thousands of Hamas fighters were killed. Sunday marks exactly six months since the war in Gaza began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people. According to the Palestinian authorities, more than 33,000 people have been killed so far in the Gaza Strip.
Home inspection
Despite the Israeli announcement, the refugee population is reluctant to return to their badly damaged city. One of them said: “The soldiers can say they left today.” Reverse New York times“But they could come back tomorrow.” While others went to Khan Yunis to inspect the condition of their homes.
John Kirby, White House spokesman for security affairs, said he did not know exactly what the Israeli announcement meant. According to him, this may also indicate that Israeli forces are only given time to “rest and recover” before being deployed again.
Last weekend, there was some movement in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas regarding a ceasefire and the release of the remaining 129 hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas announced on Saturday that the movement would send another delegation to Cairo, and Israel followed suit on Sunday. Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States are also present in the Egyptian capital. Some hope that an agreement on a truce can still be reached before the end of Ramadan so that Muslim residents of the Gaza Strip can celebrate Eid in peace.
Iranian revenge
Israel is still waiting for Iran’s declared retaliation for the killing of seven members of the Revolutionary Guard, including two generals, in Damascus last week, allegedly at the hands of Israel. General Halevy said this weekend that Israel is ready for anything. According to him, Israel is currently fighting a “war on multiple fronts.”
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In this context, Israel also announced, on Sunday, that it had made additional preparations for the possibility of expanding the scope of hostilities with Lebanese Hezbollah. If necessary, Israel can mobilize additional units for this purpose within a few hours. Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire since the start of the war on Gaza in October last year. Thousands of civilians were evacuated from both sides, and hundreds were killed, especially on the Lebanese side.
Within Israel itself The pressure grew this weekend Prime Minister Netanyahu must resign. Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv. They demanded new elections and accused the Prime Minister of not making sufficient efforts to free the hostages still in the hands of Hamas. Such demonstrations also took place elsewhere in Israel.
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