Israeli-Palestinian War in the Gaza Strip: The Second Gaza War since Israel’s Spectacled First Collision
In the area of Zweida in central Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 13 people and wounded dozens of others, according to witnesses. The bodies were draped in white plastic and laid out in front of a hospital, where prayers were held before burial.
There were reports of airstrikes and shelling in the center and west of the city in Khan Youtis, where Israel is believed to have thousands of troops. The military and the militant group Islamic Jihad reported clashes in the area.
The fears of a larger conflagration have been raised by the war. The U.S. military said Sunday that its forces shot and killed several Iran-backed Houthi rebels when they tried to attack a cargo ship in the Red Sea, an escalation in a maritime conflict linked to the war in Gaza.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities in its war, after the militant group launched a devastating attack on southern Israel. Roughly 240 people were taken hostage.
Netanyahu said Israel needs to maintain security control over the Gaza Strip. At a news conference Saturday, he said the war would continue for “many more months” and that Israel would assume control of the Gaza side of the border with Egypt.
Israel has faced stiff resistance from Hamas since it began its ground offensive in late October, and the military says 172 soldiers have been killed during that time.
“(It) must be in our hands, it must be sealed. Netanyahu said that any agreement would not guarantee demilitarization. Israel says Hamas has smuggled weapons from Egypt, but Egypt is likely to oppose any Israeli military presence there.
Netanyahu has also said he won’t allow the internationally-backed Palestinian Authority, which administers some parts of the West Bank, to participate in any future rule over Gaza, putting him at odds with President Joe Biden’s administration, which has provided crucial military aid for the offensive.
The U.S. wants a unified Palestinian government to run both Gaza and parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a precursor to eventual statehood. The last Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down over a decade ago, and Israeli government since then have been staunchly opposed to Palestinian statehood.
Thousands took to the streets on Saturday in the largest protest against Netanyahu since the start of the war. The country has remained mostly united since October 7 despite differing opinions on a leader and a judicial reform plan.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and his continued rule is the greatest threat to the country and society, according to protester Gal Tzur.
The release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas is one of the demands of Saturday’s protest. Families of hostages have staged large protests every weekend to make the government prioritize their releases over other war objectives.
Egypt, one of the mediators between Israel and Hamas, has proposed a multistage plan that would kick off with a swap of hostages for prisoners, accompanied by a temporary cease-fire. There was a deal in November that saw Israel and Hamas free over 100 hostages.
The troop movement could signal that fighting is being scaled back in some areas of Gaza, particularly in the northern half where the military has said it is close to assuming operational control. Israel has been under pressure from its chief ally, the United States, to begin to switch to lower-intensity fighting.
The Secretary of State will visit the region after the Biden administration circumvented Congress for the second time this month to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel.
Hagari did not say if Israel was starting a new phase of its war after the troop withdrawal was announced on Sunday.
Israeli troops have been fighting in the wake of the beach street Israeli-Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip, and Israel’s plan for future peace talks
Several dead and injured were transported by the Palestinian Red Crescent after the strike on the Beach Street. Medics are transporting casualties to ambulances in nighttime footage.
“It’s our daily occurrence, bombings, massacres, and martyrs,” said a Palestinian from the Nuseirat camp. He said he could hear sporadic explosions and gunfire in Nuseirat and in the nearby Bureij and Maghazi camps.
The Israeli military meanwhile said an airstrike killed Adel Mismah, a regional commander of Hamas’ elite Nukhba forces, in the central city of Deir al-Balah.
Israel has said the war will go on for months. It has argued that it needs time to clear Gaza of militants’ weapons and infrastructure and to prevent Hamas from being able to stage more attacks. Israel has resisted calls for a long-term cease-fire because it said it would be a victory for Hamas.
Shlomo Brom, a retired brigadier general once in charge of strategic planning in the Israeli military, said the troop changes may be a result of the U.S. pressure. He said it indicated a shift in how the war was being conducted.
Over the weekend, the military said that of the soldiers killed since the ground operation began, 18% had been killed by friendly fire, and a further 11 had died from weapons or equipment malfunction.