The Israeli Army explained this Monday that the withdrawal of all its ground troops from the southern Gaza Strip, leaving only one brigade left in the enclave, it is to prepare its operations. The withdrawal occurs after four months of fighting in the Khan Younis area and six months after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, where more than 33,000 people have already died, most of them women and children.

“The division left the Gaza Strip to recover and prepare for future operations“, according to the military note before qualifying, however, that “a significant number of troops will continue to operate in the Gaza Strip to maintain the IDF’s freedom of action and its ability to carry out precise operations based on intelligence data. “.

The Ministry of Defense has assured that the forces They’re just regrouping while The Army prepares to enter the last Hamas stronghold, Rafah. “The war in Gaza continues, and we are far from stopping,” said Army Chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi. “The forces are going out and preparing their next missions. We have seen similar examples in the Al Shifa operation and also for the next mission in the Rafah area,” he said.

Currently, there is only one Israeli brigade left in the Palestinian enclave that is responsible for securing a corridor between southern Israel and the Gaza coast, blocking the passage to the north of the Strip and facilitating operations in the center and north of the territory. In fact, this very Monday there were attacks in the south of the Strip.

The news comes after this Saturday the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recovered the body in Khan Younis. lifeless Israeli hostage Elad Katzir, which had been in the hands of Islamic Jihad. Doctors from the Institute of Forensic Medicine identified the body overnight and authorities informed the family of Katzir, who was kidnapped during the October 7 attacks on Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his mother, released during the seven-day truce. between Israel and Hamas, in November.

The siege continues

The two main hospitals of this southern city, Al Amal and Naser, have been razed and inoperative after the siege of the Hebrew troops during these months under the thesis that there was a presence of alleged combatants in these complexes. “Dozens of suspects have been handed over to the Shin Bet and Unit 504 of the Directorate of Military Intelligence for further interrogation,” the Army detailed in a statement on April 2.

Likewise, the Israeli Army reported this Sunday that, before its withdrawal, its combat units have carried out the last operations in the Al Amal neighborhood to finish “dismantling the terrorist infrastructure.” In a message on“Israelis in Gaza” has kept us from achieving the objectives of the war.

Israel’s next objective in Gaza appears to be the already announced military incursion into Rafah, in the south of the enclave, where 1.4 million displaced people live and, according to the Army, four Hamas battalions still remain; an incursion opposed by the United States, Israel’s main military ally.