On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdrew the bulk of its maneuver forces from south Gaza, leaving one brigade in place to hold a corridor effectively cutting the enclave in half. The use of heavier units is expected to be replaced by smaller, narrowly focused operations and raids.
Troops of the 98th Division were pulled out of the Khan Younis area after four straight months of fighting, the IDF said.
Only one brigade, Nahal, remains in the Gaza Strip. The Nahal Brigade has been tasked with securing the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which crosses Gaza from the Be’eri area in southern Israel to the Strip’s coast.
The corridor enables the IDF to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza, prevents Palestinians from returning to the northern part of the Strip, and allows humanitarian organizations to deliver aid directly to northern Gaza.
Hours after the withdrawal, five rockets were fired from the Khan Younis area at communities near the Gaza border.
According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Hamas claims over 33,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began operations in response to Hamas’ atrocity-laden October 7th attack on Israel; Hamas still holds over a hundred hostages taken in that attack, although the status of those hostages is not known. Hamas also does not specify how many of those 33,000 were Hamas terrorists and how many civilians.
Israel has lost over 600 IDF soldiers killed in the operation, and claims to have cancelled the birth certificates of 12,000 Hamas terrorists.
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Pro-Hamas Students at Rutgers University Disrupt Town Hall to Advocate for Antisemitic Policies
It’s important to note that in 2006, in elections held in Gaza, Hamas and another Islamic militant group, Fatah, received 85 percent of Gazans’ votes. Gaza would appear now to be getting the government they wanted, good and hard.
Israel recently carried out a similar withdrawal in northern Gaza.
Sunday’s withdrawal appeared to be a move similar to that carried out in the northern Gaza Strip following the IDF’s initial ground offensive last year. After several months of a large-scale offensive with several divisions, the IDF left northern Gaza, only to return to carry out smaller, localized, operations.
The IDF believes that raids based on new intelligence, such as the recent operation at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital and others in the northern part of the Strip, are a more effective way to operate against Hamas.
The offensive in Khan Younis achieved its goal, according to the IDF, with the local Hamas brigade dismantled, thousands of gunmen killed, and around 30 kilometers of tunnels destroyed.
Urban operations, like those carried out by the IDF in Gaza, are some of the most difficult and exhausting work a military can carry out. The IDF forces withdrawn will almost certainly be undergoing a period of rest and recovery; their equipment will require maintenance and any losses filled with replacements.
They may be called back into action sooner than expected, in the event of Iran following up on its recent threats.
Previously on RedState: US Forces on High Alert, Preparing for ‘Significant’ Attack in Middle East by Iran on US, Israeli Assets
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