Israel바카라s military announced Sunday it had withdrawn its forces from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, wrapping up a key phase in its ground offensive against the Hamas militant group and bringing its troop presence in the territory to one of the lowest levels since the six-month war began.
But defense officials said troops were merely regrouping as the army prepares to move into Hamas바카라 last stronghold, Rafah. 바카라The war in Gaza continues, and we are far from stopping,바카라 said the military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
Local broadcaster Channel 13 TV reported that Israel was preparing to begin evacuating Rafah within one week and the process could take several months.
Still, the withdrawal was a milestone as Israel and Hamas marked six months of fighting. Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under army policy, said a 바카라significant force바카라 remained in Gaza to continue targeted operations including in Khan Younis, hometown of the Hamas leader, Yehya Sinwar.
AP video in Khan Younis showed some people returning to a landscape marked by shattered multistory buildings and climbing over debris. Cars were overturned and charred. Southern Gaza바카라s main hospital, Nasser, was in shambles.
바카라It바카라s all just rubble,바카라 a dejected Ahmad Abu al-Rish said. 바카라Animals can바카라t live here, so how is a human supposed to?바카라
Israel for weeks has vowed a ground offensive in nearby Rafah. But the city shelters some 1.4 million people 바카라 more than half of Gaza바카라s population. The prospect of an offensive has raised global alarm, including from Israel바카라s top ally, the U.S., which has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians. Allowing people to return to nearby Khan Younis could relieve some pressure on Rafah.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby repeated on Sunday the U.S. opposition to a Rafah offensive and told ABC the U.S. believes that the partial Israeli withdrawal 바카라is really just about rest and refit for these troops that have been on the ground for four months and not necessarily, that we can tell, indicative of some coming new operation for these troops.바카라
Israel바카라s military quietly drew down troops in devastated northern Gaza earlier in the war. But it has continued to carry out airstrikes and raids in areas where it says Hamas has resurfaced, including Gaza바카라s largest hospital, Shifa, leaving what the head of the World Health Organization called 바카라an empty shell.바카라
The six-month mark has been met with growing frustration in Israel, where anti-government protests have swelled and anger is mounting over what some see as government inaction to help free about 130 remaining hostages, about a quarter of whom Israel says are dead. Hamas-led militants took about 250 captives when they crossed from Gaza into Israel on Oct. 7 and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Several thousand protesters called for a 바카라hostage deal now바카라 at a rally outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, organized by hostages바카라 families. In southern Israel, weeping relatives gathered at the site of a music festival where more than 300 people were killed on Oct. 7.
바카라It바카라s an impossible reality for us, it바카라s an impossible reality for the Gazans and the people of this country. We just want to live,바카라 said one protester, Talia Ezrahi.
바카라I would agree to anything to return the hostages and stop the mass killings in Gaza,바카라 said another protester, Michal Fruchtman.
Negotiations in pursuit of a cease-fire in exchange for the hostages바카라 release were expected to resume in Cairo on Sunday. An Israeli delegation led by the head of the Mossad intelligence agency was going to Cairo, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
Pressure rose for action now.
바카라This doesn바카라t seem a war against terror. This doesn바카라t seem anymore a war about defending Israel. This really, at this point, seems it바카라s a war against humanity itself,바카라 chef José Andrés told ABC, days after an Israeli airstrike killed seven of his World Central Kitchen colleagues in Gaza. Aid deliveries on a crucial new sea route to the territory were suspended.
바카라Humanity has been all but abandoned바카라 in Gaza, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement.
The U.N. and partners now warn of 바카라imminent famine바카라 for more than 1 million people in Gaza as humanitarian workers urge Israel to loosen restrictions on the delivery of aid overland, the only way to meet soaring needs as some Palestinians forage for weeds to eat. Thousands of aid trucks have been waiting to enter Gaza.
바카라It바카라s a slow-motion massacre of people to subject them to the kind of deprivation of food and water that they have been subjected to for the last six months,바카라 Doctors Without Borders USA executive director Avril Benoit told CBS.
Mothers who have given birth in Gaza since the war began are especially vulnerable.
The Health Ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 38 people killed in Israel바카라s bombardment had been brought to the territory바카라s remaining functional hospitals in the past 24 hours. It said 33,175 have been killed since the war began. It doesn바카라t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says two-thirds of the dead are children and women.
Israel바카라s military continued to suffer losses, including in Khan Younis, where the military said four soldiers were killed. Over 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Oct. 7, according to Israel바카라s government.
Concerns about a wider regional conflict continued as a top Iranian military adviser warned Israel that none of its embassies were safe following last week바카라s strike in Damascus 바카라 blamed on Israel 바카라 that killed two elite Iranian generals and flattened an Iranian consular building. Israel has not directly acknowledged its involvement.
바카라None of the embassies of the (Israeli) regime are safe anymore,바카라 Gen. Rahim Safavi, a military adviser to Iran바카라s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim agency.
