Thousands of Israeli soldiers are being shifted out of the Gaza Strip, the military said Monday.
It is the first significant drawdown of Israel’s troops since the war began as forces continued to bear down on the main city in the southern half of the enclave.
The withdrawal was ordered particularly in the northern half where the military has said it is close to assuming operational control.
Benjamin Netanyahu has been under pressure from its chief ally, the United States, to begin to switch to lower-intensity fighting.
The decision came days before a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region and after the Biden administration bypassed Congress for the second time this month to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel.
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Fierce fighting continued in other areas of Gaza, especially the southern city Khan Younis and central areas of the territory.
Israel has pledged to charge ahead until its war aims have been achieved, including dismantling Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years.
The military said in a statement Monday that five brigades, or several thousand troops, were being taken out of Gaza in the coming weeks for training and rest.
In a briefing Sunday that first announced the troop withdrawal without specifying how many forces were leaving, army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari did not say whether the decision meant Israel was launching a new phase of the war.
He said: “The objectives of the war require prolonged fighting, and we are preparing accordingly.”
Israel has vowed to crush Hamas’ military and governing capabilities in its war, which was sparked by the militant group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people. Roughly 240 people were taken hostage.
With tensions remaining high across the region, the US announced Monday that it would be sending an aircraft carrier strike group home and replacing it with an amphibious assault ship and accompanying warships.
Israel says more than 8,000 militants have been killed, without providing evidence. It blames Hamas for the high civilian death toll, saying the militants embed within residential areas, including schools and hospitals.
The war has displaced some 85 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, sending swells of people seeking shelter in Israeli-designated safe areas that the military has nevertheless bombed.
Palestinians are left with a sense that nowhere is safe in the tiny enclave.
