Israeli military reduces troops in southern Gaza

Israel pulled its ground forces out of the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, media reports said, in a partial withdrawal six months into the devastating offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

“Today, Sunday April 7th, the IDF’s 98th commando division has concluded its mission in Khan Yunis. The division left the Gaza Strip in order to recuperate and prepare for future operations,” the Israeli army said in a statement to AFP.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was just “one step away from victory” and vowed there would be no let-up in fighting until Hamas releases all hostages.

Speaking as new truce talks were due to be held in Cairo, he told his cabinet that “there will be no ceasefire without the return of hostages. It just won’t happen.”

Netanyahu stressed that “Israel is ready for a deal, Israel is not ready to surrender”.

Israel’s partial withdrawal from the southern Gaza Strip is likely so its troops can “rest and refit,” rather than a move towards a new operation, the White House said yesterday.

The news of the partial withdrawal came on the day talks towards a truce and hostage release deal were expected to resume in Cairo, including US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

CIA chief Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani will join Egyptian officials for indirect talks from yesterday between the Israeli and Hamas delegations, Egypt’s Al-Qahera News said.

Netanyahu had long threatened a ground offensive on far-southern Gaza’s Rafah city, sparking global concern, including from Israel’s top ally the United States.

Air strikes kept pounding Khan Yunis and Rafah during the night, eyewitnesses said.

Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 33,175 Palestinians and wounded 75,886 since October 7, the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry said yesterday.

There have been 38 Palestinians killed and 71 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry statement added.

Several aid trucks yesterday entered southern Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, the drivers honking their horns as crowds ran after them, AFP TV footage showed.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron warned the “prospect of famine is real” in Gaza, as a Royal Navy ship headed to the Mediterranean to help set up a maritime aid corridor.

Cameron said Britain was working with the United States, Cyprus and others to set up a “new temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to get aid in as quickly and securely as possible”.

The Israeli military said yesterday that it had completed another step in preparing for a possible war along its northern front, where it has been trading fire with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah for six months.

Unicef chief Catherine Russell pointed out that more than 13,000 children were reportedly among those killed in Gaza.

“Homes, schools and hospitals in ruin. Teachers, doctors and humanitarians killed. Famine is imminent,” she said on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.

“The level and speed of destruction are shocking. Children need a ceasefire NOW,” she added.

• Israel keeps bombing Rafah
• 38 more Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes
• UK sends Royal Navy ship to boost aid for Gaza
• Death toll in the enclave rises to 33,175

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