The devastating war between Israel and Hamas reached its six-month mark on Sunday, with Israel announcing it had withdrawn more soldiers from southern Gaza — leaving just one brigade — and the two sides sending teams to Egypt for fresh talks over a potential ceasefire.
Israel has been reducing numbers in Gaza since the start of the year to relieve reservists and is under growing pressure from its ally Washington to improve the humanitarian situation, especially after last week’s killing of seven aid workers.
An Israeli military spokesperson did not give details on the reasons for withdrawing soldiers or the numbers involved.
Both Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, confirmed they were sending delegations to Egypt for the latest round of ceasefire talks.
Israel says it fired two military officers and reprimanded others after an Israeli drone killed a group of aid workers in Gaza. It released details about how the drone strikes played out, mistaking one of the aid workers as a Hamas militant. Critics say Israel isn’t doing enough to protect innocent lives.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that his country would not bend to foreign pressure and give in to “extreme demands.”
Hamas says an agreement must secure a complete and comprehensive ceasefire, full withdrawal of Israeli forces from areas occupied after Oct. 7, and freedom of movement for residents across the Gaza Strip.
More than 250 hostages were seized and some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — killed during Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 33,100 Palestinians have been killed in the subsequent Israeli offensive, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says two-thirds of the dead are children and women.
Rafah raid uncertain
It was unclear whether the troop reduction in south Gaza would delay a long-threatened incursion into the city of Rafah. Netanyahu says the operation is necessary to eliminate Hamas, but anxious foreign powers have said it could wreak an unacceptable toll on civilians.
Palestinian residents of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, which has come under Israeli bombardment in recent months, said they had seen Israeli forces leaving the centre of the city and retreating to the eastern districts.
“It seems at the end it may be a happy Eid,” said Imad Joudat, 55, who lives with his eight-member family in a tent in Rafah, referring to the coming Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday that starts mid-week.
“The occupation withdrew forces from Khan Younis, the Americans are pressuring after some foreigners were killed and Egypt is holding a big round with the Americans, the Israelis, Hamas and Qatar,” Joudat told Reuters via a chat app.
“This time we are hopeful.”
Rafah, near the border with Egypt, has become the last refuge for more than a million Palestinians.
In a statement marking six months of war, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that “humanity has been all but abandoned” in Gaza.
The UN and partners now warn of “imminent famine” for more than one 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 that have forced some Palestinians to forage for weeds to eat.
Growing pressure on Israel
Six months of combat have strained the Israeli military and economy. Many Israeli security experts say they now see a greater threat from Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel is also on alert for a possible retaliatory attack from Iran in reaction to its killing of Iranian generals on April 1.
And it is under increased pressure from the United States, where President Joe Biden has demanded that it improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza and work toward a ceasefire, saying that U.S. support could be contingent on that.
That was the first time Biden, a staunch supporter of Israel, has sought to leverage U.S. aid as a way to influence Israeli military behaviour. The U.S. is a major supplier of arms to Israel’s military.
Biden has also urged the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to pressure Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal ahead of a fresh round of talks in Cairo.
Netanyahu, at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting, said any deal must include the release of hostages still being held in Gaza, and that Hamas’s unreasonable demands were the obstacle.
“Giving in to Hamas’s demands will allow it to repeat the crimes of Oct. 7 again and again, as it has promised to do,” he said.
Anxious wait for hostages’ families
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 in Gaza, about a quarter of whom Israel says are dead.
For the families of hostages, the wait has been an agonizing one.
“It’s been 184 days, half a year now,” Idit Ohel, whose son was taken hostage by Hamas, told CBC News Network from Jerusalem. “We have a lot of hope, but it’s not easy.”
Alon Ohel, who would have marked his 23rd birthday in captivity, was seized by Hamas during the Nova music festival in southern Israel. His mother has not heard from him since.
“Every day is hard…. I don’t know if he’s getting enough food, I don’t know if he’s getting any light,” Idit Ohel said.
“We need the world and we need help from everybody to talk to whoever … will listen and do something about it — if it’s Qatar, if it’s Egypt, whoever can help and finish this.”
Source Agencies
