ISRAEL shifted several thousand soldiers out of Gaza yesterday in what it described as a “drawdown” of troops — but its army warned at the same time it intended to continue the war for the whole of 2024.
Troops continued fighting in Khan Younis, the second-largest city in Gaza, while in the north the army claimed it was close to achieving operational control. Bombs continued to rain on neighbourhoods across the impoverished strip, held under crippling siege by Israel since 2007, killing scores.
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said troops were merely being withdrawn in order to regroup and “re-energise,” and adjusting deployments was necessary given the army was preparing for a prolonged war.
“These adaptations are intended to ensure the planning and preparation for continuing the war in 2024,” he said. “The IDF must plan ahead out of an understanding that there will be additional missions and the fighting will continue the rest of the year.”
Over 85 per cent of Gaza’s two million residents have now been displaced, with huge numbers piling into makeshift camps along the coast or in Rafah on the Egyptian border, though Israel continues to bomb that town too. Over 21,000 Palestinians have so far been killed and close to 60,000 wounded since Israel’s latest bombardment and ground invasion, declared after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, which rules Gaza, that killed over 1,100 Israelis.
Fears of full-scale ethnic cleansing were revived on Sunday when Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the country should “encourage migration” from Gaza and re-establish Jewish settlements there (these were withdrawn in 2005).
“If in Gaza there were only 100-200,000 Arabs and not two million, the entire discussion about ‘the day after’ would be completely different,” he said on army radio, referring to ongoing disputes about what future the strip would have if Israel prevails in its war aim of eliminating Hamas. Mr Smotrich avoids the term “Palestinian,” asserting there is no such people.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair’s office yesterday denied Israeli media reports that he was involved in talks on facilitating the “voluntary” emigration of Gazans.
