Some Troops to Be Withdrawn From Gaza as War Enters New Phase

By Yoni Weiss

Israel is to withdraw some forces from Gaza to shift to more targeted operations against Hamas, and is partially returning reservists to civilian life to help the economy as the country is set for a prolonged war, an Israeli official said.

The official said the war will continue in the Gaza Strip until the Hamas terror group is toppled, adding that some of the troops withdrawn will prepare for a possible second front in Lebanon.

Since launching the Gaza offensive after the Hamas attacks on Simchas Torah, Israeli officials have said they planned to wage it in three main stages. The first was intense shelling to clear access routes for ground forces and encourage civilians to evacuate. The second was the ground invasion, which began on Oct. 27.

With tanks and troops having now overrun much of the Gaza Strip, largely asserting control despite Palestinian terrorists continuing their ambushes from hidden tunnels and bunkers, the IDF is moving to the third stage of the war, said the official, who could not be identified by name given the sensitivity of the issue.

“This will take six months at least, and involve intense mopping-up missions against the terrorists. No one is talking about doves of peace being flown from Shajaia,” the official told Reuters.

The IDF drafted some 300,000 reservists for the war – an estimated 10% to 15% of its workforce. Some were quickly discharged, but government sources have said between 200,000 and 250,000 were still serving and absent from jobs.

The official said the withdrawal was focused on reservists and designed to “re-energize the economy.”

But the official said some of the troops pulled out of Gaza in the south would be prepared for rotation to the northern border with Lebanon, whose Hezbollah militants have been exchanging fire with Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israel has warned that if Hezbollah does not back down, a full-on Lebanon war looms. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, whose terror allies in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen have also been carrying out longer-range attacks against Israel.

“The situation on the Lebanese front will not be allowed to continue. This coming six-month period is a critical moment,” the official said, adding that Israel would convey a similar message to a U.S. envoy conducting shuttle missions to Beirut.

The IDF announced it was sending some reservists home as part of what top Chief of Staff Lt-Gen Herzi Halevi has deemed a “reconfiguration” of forces.

Israel has listed 174 soldiers as killed in Gaza fighting.