Tactical Israeli troop pullout for truce talks and Rafah evacuation
Israeli security analyst Omer Dostri says the withdrawal is purely tactical and doesn’t mean the war is anywhere near over. Under heavy pressure from its ally the US, pulling out ground troops from southern Gaza will help Israel in truce and captive-release talks with Hamas, Dostri said.
But he predicted Israeli soldiers will return to fight surviving Hamas members after displaced people are evacuated from Rafah, the far southern city on the Egyptian border.
“I predict that, after the evacuation of the residents, within two months there will be a [ground] move in Rafah to destroy the remaining Hamas brigades,” said Dostri, a researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.
He estimated that one Hamas brigade remains in Rafah and a battalion and a half of its fighters are in the centre of the Gaza Strip, “mainly in Nuseirat”. Dostri also predicted that, once those Gaza battles have ended, Israeli ground troops will step up operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.
“Israel’s military logic dictates the elimination of Hamas’s military power before launching a campaign in the north,” he said.
Israel may have started a forever war in Gaza
After six months of relentless attacks on Gaza, Israel remains no closer to a victory than it has been at any point since October of last year. Whether it has plans for the enclave beyond the fighting remains unknown, while more than 33,000 people, the majority women and children, lie dead.
Israeli troop reduction in south Gaza seems ‘rest and refit’: US
The Israeli military’s troop reduction in the southern Gaza Strip appears to be a “rest and refit” and not necessarily indicative of any new operations, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby has said in an ABC News interview.
“As we understand it, and through their public announcements, it is really just about rest and refit for these troops … and not necessarily that we can tell indicative of some coming new operation for these troops,” Kirby said when asked about the step.
The Israeli military said earlier its troop reduction in south Gaza leaves just one brigade there six months after the start of its war on Gaza.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/07/middleeast/israel-khan-younis-withdrawal-gaza-intl/index.html
When asked by CNN about the reasons for the withdrawal, the IDF declined to comment. The IDF also did not comment on whether this means there are no more forces on the ground in southern Gaza.
What is also unclear is what the withdrawal means for Israel’s plans to invade Rafah, the southernmost part of Gaza that has become a shelter for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Israel has said an incursion into Rafah is essential to achieve its goal of eliminating Hamas from Gaza.
Israeli public broadcaster and CNN affiliate Channel 11 on Sunday reported that the remaining forces would be located along the so-called Netzarim Corridor, a route that splits the Gaza Strip in two. Named after the former Israeli settlement of Netzarim in Gaza, the corridor intersects one of Gaza’s two main north-south roads, Salaheddin Street, to create a strategic, central junction.
