The Israeli military announced it will begin withdrawing several thousand troops from the Gaza Strip at least temporarily, in what would be the most significant publicly announced pullback since the war began. The military cited a growing toll on the Israeli economy following nearly three months of wartime mobilisation with little end in sight to the fighting. But the withdrawals also come as the military considers scaling back its operations in a new phase of fighting. The US has been prodding Israel to begin doing so more quickly as the death toll in Gaza continues to rise, with more than 20,000 killed, according to local health authorities.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, emphasised that the move to demobilise some soldiers did not indicate any compromise on Israel’s intention to continue fighting, and he did not mention the US requests to scale back. He indicated that some will be called back to service in the coming year. And the fighting remains intense across Gaza. The army “must plan ahead, understanding that we will be required for additional tasks and warfare throughout this year,” he said. Reservists from at least two brigades will be sent home this week, the Israeli military said in a statement, and three brigades will be taken back for training. “This move is expected to significantly alleviate economic burdens and enable them to gather strength for upcoming activities,” it said.
On Monday, in reaction to Israel’s latest decision, a US official told Reuters, “This appears to be the start of the gradual shift to lower-intensity operations in the north that we have been encouraging.” The White House has said US President Biden spoke with PM Netanyahu about Israel’s objectives and the phasing of its military operations in Gaza on Dec. 23. US secretary of state Antony Blinken too is expected to return to Israel this month for further talks on the war after having met with a Netanyahu aide in Washington last week. They discussed pivoting to a different phase of the war to “maximise focus on high-value Hamas targets”.
Israel began its campaign against Hamas after 1,200 people were killed in Israel in Oct 7 attack by the Palestinian group and over 240 people were taken hostage. In response, Israel launched a military campaign against Hamas and authorised the mobilisation of over 350,000 reservists. Israel says over 8,000 militants have been killed.
The call-up added to the economic burden faced by hundreds of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes on Israel’s borders following the attacks. The Israeli economy is expected to shrink 2% this quarter, the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, a nonpartisan think tank in Israel, said in late Dec., as many left the labor force for reserve duty or abandoned businesses in their hometowns.
Fighting continued on Monday. Israeli troops struck targets in north and central Gaza, claiming to eliminate a Hamas commander.