{"id":26093,"date":"2024-04-09T03:00:06","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T07:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/active-fighting-subsides-in-gaza-but-the-war-is-not-over-officials-say\/09\/04\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-04-09T03:00:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T07:00:06","slug":"active-fighting-subsides-in-gaza-but-the-war-is-not-over-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/active-fighting-subsides-in-gaza-but-the-war-is-not-over-officials-say\/09\/04\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Active Fighting Subsides in Gaza, but the War Is Not Over, Officials Say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military\u2019s departure from southern Gaza over the weekend has left the devastated territory in a state of suspense as active fighting there receded on Monday to its lowest ebb since a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/29\/world\/middleeast\/the-truce-between-israel-and-hamas-appeared-to-hold-for-another-day.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">brief truce with Hamas in November<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But even as some observers hoped Israel\u2019s withdrawal from the area might portend a new cease-fire, both Hamas and Israeli officials suggested the war was not yet over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Analysts said the withdrawal of Israeli troops suggested only that the war had entered a new phase, one in which Israel would continue to mount small-scale operations across Gaza to prevent Hamas\u2019s resurgence. That strategy, they said, could occupy a middle ground between reaching a lasting truce with Hamas and ordering a major ground assault into Rafah, Hamas\u2019s last stronghold in southern Gaza where more than one million Palestinians have taken refuge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a statement on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said that while Israel was still pursuing a deal to secure the release of its hostages in Gaza, it was also seeking \u201ctotal victory over Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis victory requires entering Rafah and eliminating the terrorist battalions there,\u201d Mr. Netanyahu said. \u201cThis will happen; there is a date.\u201d He did not specify the date.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By withdrawing now without having fulfilled its stated mission of eliminating Hamas and without empowering an alternative Palestinian leadership, Israel has left behind a power vacuum in Gaza, in which Hamas could regroup and re-emerge as a military force across much of the territory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/07\/world\/middleeast\/israel-troops-gaza.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">said on Sunday<\/a> that its 98th Division had left Khan Younis in southern Gaza in order \u201cto recuperate and prepare for future operations.\u201d That leaves no Israeli troops actively maneuvering in southern Gaza, according to two officials briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly about it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli leadership painted the withdrawal as a sign of Israel\u2019s progress on the battlefield, and something it had long predicted. Israeli officials have said they would eventually move most troops back to the strip\u2019s perimeter and conduct brief attacks on specific targets, instead of carrying out large-scale ground maneuvers across wide areas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The drawdown continues a process that began in January and leaves the equivalent of a single brigade in all of Gaza, or fewer than 5,000 troops \u2014 down from roughly 50,000 at the height of the war in December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The 98th Division\u2019s operations in southern Gaza were \u201cextremely impressive,\u201d the Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said in a statement. \u201cTheir activities enabled the dismantling of Hamas as a functioning military unit in this area,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The remaining troops inside Gaza are mostly guarding <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2024\/01\/24\/world\/israel-hamas-gaza-news\/israel-says-a-buffer-zone-would-protect-its-people-critics-say-the-policy-could-be-a-war-crime?smid=url-share\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">a buffer zone that Israel has created<\/a> by destroying Palestinian buildings along the border, or are positioned along a narrow land corridor that splits northern Gaza, including Gaza City, from the rest of the territory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Two journalists for The New York Times traveled along the corridor last week, observing how it functions as a supply road for troops, a barrier to displaced Gazans attempting to move back to north Gaza and a potential launchpad for future Israeli military operations in northern and central Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To critics of the military\u2019s decision, the drawdown constitutes an Israeli failure. Despite mounting a campaign that the local authorities say has killed more than 33,000 and left Gaza in ruins and on the brink of famine, Israel is leaving most of the strip without having achieved the goals it set for itself after Hamas raided Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and setting off the war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hamas\u2019s most senior leaders are still alive; several thousand Hamas fighters are still at large; and roughly half of the hostages taken on Oct. 7 are still in Gaza. Israel\u2019s withdrawal has left most of Gaza without a functional administration, and the void could be filled once more by Hamas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIn the six months of war, we failed to achieve even a single one of the objectives,\u201d wrote Nahum Barnea, a prominent Israeli commentator, in a column on Monday for the centrist news outlet Yediot Ahronot. \u201cWe did not destroy Hamas,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For Palestinians returning to their homes after the Israeli withdrawal, there was a sense of horror as they grasped the scale of destruction in their neighborhoods.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cDestruction is everywhere,\u201d said Akram Al-Satri, 47, a freelance journalist who is not employed by The New York Times and who said he returned on Monday morning to his wrecked neighborhood in<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>Khan Younis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPeople were looking for their beloveds under the rubble; others were looking for their belongings or anything that they can use now,\u201d Mr. Al-Satri said in a phone interview. \u201cI saw people finding decomposed human parts and trying to recognize who they were by their clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Ahmad al-Farra, 54, who ran the pediatric ward at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis before his family fled south to Rafah in January, said his family went back to their three-story villa on Sunday and found it reduced to rubble, surrounded by a few trees that were left standing in what was once a lush garden.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI completely collapsed and nearly fainted,\u201d he said in a phone call on Monday, adding that his wife and two teenage daughters burst into tears.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI worked for 20 years to build this house,\u201d Dr. al-Farra said. \u201cYou build a home corner by corner, stone by stone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAnd in the end,\u201d he added, \u201cwith a press of a button, it is reduced to rubble.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He and others fear that Israel will send ground troops into Rafah in pursuit of Hamas\u2019s leaders and fighters once the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends this week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe dreams of an entire family have disappeared into the air,\u201d Dr. al-Farra said. \u201cWhere will we go now? Will we spend the rest of our lives living in tents?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To thoroughly rout Hamas, Israel would need to follow through on its promise to advance on Rafah, where most of Hamas\u2019s remaining fighters and military leaders are thought to be hiding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Netanyahu faces intense pressure from far-right members of his ruling coalition to proceed with the Rafah operation. Some of those lawmakers have threatened to collapse Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s coalition government should he call off a ground invasion, prompting elections that the prime minister could lose.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The prime minister is also under growing international pressure, including from President Biden, to resist invading Rafah because it would risk widespread harm to civilians who have fled to the city since the war began.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And Mr. Netanyahu faces a growing domestic backlash from Israelis who believe he should secure the swift release of the remaining hostages, even if it comes at the cost of keeping Hamas in power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Biden administration said Monday that a new cease-fire and hostage-release proposal had been presented to Hamas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe really want to come to closure on a hostage deal as soon as possible,\u201d John F. Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, told reporters. He added that a deal would come with \u201ca cease-fire of some weeks duration, hopefully around six weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Basem Naim, a Hamas spokesman, said on Monday that the latest proposal was \u201cworse than the previous ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Among other sticking points, he said: \u201cThey are not mentioning the withdrawal of troops from Gaza. They are saying nothing on permanent cease-fire.\u201d There has been \u201csome progress,\u201d he said, on a proposal to allow displaced Gazans to return to their homes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis offer cannot be a starting point to reaching a cease-fire agreement,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Negotiations have stalled for months, in large part because Israel does not want to agree to a truce that allows Hamas to remain in charge of any part of Gaza, while Hamas is wary of a deal that does not provide for the release of as many members as possible from Israeli prisons or that does not ensure its long-term survival.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Reporting was contributed by <!-- -->Hiba Yazbek<!-- -->, <!-- -->Abu Bakr Bashir<!-- -->, <!-- -->Johnatan Reiss<!-- --> and <!-- -->Katie Rogers<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/08\/world\/middleeast\/israel-gaza-war.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Israeli military&rsquo;s departure from southern Gaza over the weekend has left the devastated territory in a state of suspense as active<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/active-fighting-subsides-in-gaza-but-the-war-is-not-over-officials-say\/09\/04\/2024\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26093"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}