Israel begins pullback of troops from Gaza, but insists fighting will continue
Global News
The move signaled a new phase in its offensive, with an official saying the military would drawdown its forces and shift to a months-long phase of more localized operations.
Israel pulled tanks out of some Gaza districts on Monday, residents said, as it announced plans to shift tactics and cut back on troop numbers, but fighting raged elsewhere in the Palestinian enclave along with intense bombardment.
Israel says the conflict in Gaza, which has reduced much of the territory to rubble, killing thousands and plunging its 2.3 million people into a humanitarian disaster, has many months to go.
But it also signaled a new phase in its offensive, with an official saying on Monday the military would draw down forces inside Gaza this month and shift to a months-long phase of more localized “mopping up” operations.
A U.S. official said the decision appeared to indicate the start of a shift to lower-intensity operations in the north of the Palestinian enclave. The hints at a lowered tempo in Gaza came as the U.S. Navy announced that the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier was returning to its home port in Virginia after being to deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean following the outbreak of hostilities.
The Israeli official said the troop reduction would allow some reservists to return to civilian life, shoring up Israel’s economy, and free up units in case of a wider conflict in the north with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The conflict has taken a toll on the economy by preventing reservists from going to their jobs, running their businesses or returning to university studies.
In a statement Monday, the army said that five brigades, or several thousand troops, would be taken out of Gaza in the coming weeks. Some will return to bases for further training or rest, while many older reservists will go home.
The army’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, did not say whether the withdrawal of some troops reflected a new phase of the conflict.
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