Israeli response to the Oct. 7 attack on Hamas: The israel response and the civilian casualty number in the Gazan conflict
The army said that several thousand troops would be withdrawn from Gaza in the coming weeks. Some will return to bases for further training or rest, while many older reservists will go home. The war has taken a toll on the economy, preventing reserve soldiers from going to their jobs, running their businesses or returning to university studies.
Israel’s Supreme Court struck down a component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial change plan on the same day that the troop drawdown was confirmed. While the plan is not directly connected to the war effort, it was the source of deep divisions inside Israel and had threatened the military’s readiness before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the ongoing war.
Netanyahu vows to press on with the offensive until hostages are freed from the militant group in Gaza.
Israel has come under pressure to scale back its offensive that has killed over twenty thousand Palestinians. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected in the region next week, where he has repeatedly urged Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.
The move is in line with the Israeli leaders’ plan for a low-intensity campaign expected to last for much of the year and focus on remaining Hamas strongholds and “pockets of resistance.”
Israel responded with an air, ground and sea offensive that has killed more than 21,900 people in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The Israeli military says 173 soldiers have died since it launched its ground operation.
Israel also says, without providing evidence, that more than 8,000 militants have been killed. It says Hamas is to blame for the high civilian death toll.
Israel Pulls Thousands of Troops from Gaza, a Possible Sign of Scaled Back Offensive: “This is not a Day for Political Arguments”
On Monday, the United States announced that it will replace its aircraft carrier strike group with an amphibious assault ship and warships in order to keep a cool head in the region.
A missile strike on a house in the central town of Deir al-Balah has left 17 people dead, including four children, an Associated Press reporter reported.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Monday that 156 people had been killed in the past day. The Israeli military said they killed a Hamas commander in Deir al-Balah.
Ilan Weiss is believed to be dead, after the community of Kibbutz Be’eri was hit by Hamas. Weiss’ daughter, Noga Weiss, 18; and wife, Shiri Weiss, 53; were held in captivity in Gaza and released on Nov. 25 during a weeklong cease-fire.
The Israeli Supreme Court’s landmark decision to strike down part of Netanyahu’s planned judicial overhaul could reopen the fissures in Israeli society that preceded the war against Hamas.
Benny Gantz, a rival of Netanyahu’s who joined the three-member War Cabinet, called on all sides to put aside their differences and focus on the war. “These are not days for political arguments. He said there were no winners orlosers today.
A Minister of State in the Cross-Contribtion of the Gaza Strip, Revised under the First Law of the Israeli High-Redshift Law
The court voted narrowly to overturn a law preventing judges from striking down government decisions they think are unreasonable. The law passed in July was the first part of the government’s plan to curb the authority of unelected judges.
Since the latest exchange of fire began along the Lebanon-Israel border on Oct. 8, 133 Hezbollah fighters and around 20 civilians have been killed in Lebanon. In Yemen, long-range missiles were fired at Israel and at civilian cargo ships in the Red Sea.
The United States has sent warships to the Mediterranean and Red Seas, providing protection for Israel and underscoring concerns that the fighting could widen.
Speaking during a visit with troops in central Gaza, Gallant said that an assumption that the withdrawal from the north presaged an end to the conflict was “wrong.”
Israel’s military is in a high state of readiness, said Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli military.
He said that their forces are continuing to fight in Gaza. We are attacking terrorists and destroying their infrastructure above and below ground.
Hagari spoke a few hours after Israel announced that a senior Hamas leader, Saleh al-Arouri, had been killed in an explosion in Beirut. Hamas’ senior-most leader killed since the beginning of the war was the deputy head of the group’s Lebanon-based political bureau.
Israel’s ambassador to the High Court: Dispelling South Africa’s absurd blood libel in the Confronting Israel with the International Court of Justice at The Hague
“The State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice at The Hague to dispel South Africa’s absurd blood libel,” Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told an online briefing.