Thousands of Israeli troops are being withdrawn from the Gaza Strip, despite military leaders warning that “ongoing” fighting will continue into 2024.
The troop movement represents the largest troop withdrawal since the war began 87 days ago and could signal a reduction in fighting in some areas of the embattled enclave.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said they are close to taking operational control of northern Gaza, where there has been relentless airstrikes since Israel declared war on Hamas following the October 7 invasion.
Israel is under pressure from its main ally, the United States, to switch to lower-intensity fighting amid high civilian casualties in Gaza, where the death toll is over 21,000, according to Hamas.
But military leaders have pledged to keep pushing forward until Israel's war goal of crushing Hamas is achieved. Fierce fighting continues across the enclave and the number of casualties continues to rise on the first day of the new year.
Israeli soldiers walk next to tanks near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel (January 1, 2024)
Israeli soldiers fire mortars at an area near the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel (January 1, 2024)
Palestinians walk past the rubble of a house destroyed by an Israeli attack in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip (January 1, 2024)
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a New Year's message that Israeli troops are preparing to continue fighting in 2024.
“The IDF needs to plan in advance, assuming that there will be further operations and fighting will continue for the rest of the year,” he said, according to the BBC.
News of the cut came ahead of 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 arms sale to Israel.
However, heavy fighting continued in other areas of the Gaza Strip, particularly in the southern city of Khan Younis and central areas of the territory.
The attacks on Israel also continued. Hamas fired a barrage of rockets across the border just as the clock struck midnight, and two dozen people were killed in Israeli attacks on Palestinian territory overnight.
As 2024 began, air raid sirens blared across Israel and journalists in Tel Aviv witnessed missile defense systems intercepting rockets overhead.
Hamas rockets lit up the skies over Israel on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari (pictured in mid-December) said in a New Year's message that Israeli troops are preparing to continue fighting in 2024
“We were all scared on the corners… my heart was racing,” said Gabriel Zemelman, 26, outside a bar after the rocket fire. “It's terrifying.” “You just saw the life we lead, it's crazy.”
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, claimed responsibility for the attack in a video posted on social media, saying it fired M90 rockets in “response to the massacres of civilians carried out by Israel.”
The Israeli army confirmed the attack without initially reporting any casualties or damage.
Surrounded by partygoers, 24-year-old server Ran Stahl said he didn't have the heart to party, not since one of his friends was killed in the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival.
“The moment I start dancing, I feel guilty – the sadness and grief return,” he said.
Israeli strikes in Gaza overnight killed at least 24 people, with attacks reported across the territory, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The nearly three-month war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's bloody attacks on Israel on October 7, which, according to official figures, killed around 1,140 people, most of them civilians.
According to Israeli officials, militants also took around 250 people hostage that day, most of whom are still in Gaza.
In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a punitive offensive in Gaza that turned vast areas into a ravaged wasteland and killed at least 21,822 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.
The Israeli army says 172 of its soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip and there are no signs of the war ending.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Saturday that the fighting would last “many months until Hamas is eliminated and the hostages are returned.”
In the besieged Gaza Strip, where the UN says 85 percent of the population has been displaced, 20-year-old Hamdan Abu Arab said he hoped “2024 will be better.”
“Some time ago I was talking to my friends and we were remembering how we always went out on the last day of the year and enjoyed our time. “But on this New Year's Eve there are only rockets and remains of people,” he said .
Since Israel imposed a siege at the start of the war, residents of the Gaza Strip have suffered severe shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine.
This came as Hamas fired a barrage of rockets into Israel just as the clock struck midnight and two dozen people were killed in Israeli attacks on Palestinian territory overnight
UN chief Antonio Guterres has condemned the “epic human suffering” and “collective punishment” of Palestinian civilians, while the WHO has warned of the threat of infectious diseases.
“We are exhausted… We have been displaced five times in this war,” said 29-year-old Bassam Hana. We hope that things will improve in 2024 and that we will live like any other human being. “Right now we live like animals.”
At least 48 Palestinians were killed in attacks on Gaza City over the weekend, the territory's health ministry said, with many still buried under the rubble.
“After the explosion, we arrived at the scene of the attack and saw martyrs everywhere,” a resident said after a building was hit.
“Children are still missing, we can’t find them.”
In his evening briefing on Sunday, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said several militants had been killed and subdued “during fighting in Khan Yunis” earlier in the day.
“We continue to take care of the underground tunnels and attack the rocket launch site to reduce rocket fire from the State of Israel.”
“At any given time, there are dozens of aircraft in the skies over Gaza,” he said.
International mediators continue to seek a new pause in fighting.
A Hamas delegation from Qatar visited Cairo on Friday to discuss an Egyptian three-phase plan that includes renewable ceasefires, a staggered release of hostages for Palestinian prisoners and an eventual end to the war, sources close to Hamas said.
Its allies, Islamic Jihad, said Saturday that Palestinian factions were “in the process” of evaluating the proposal and would provide a response “within days.”
The war in Gaza has raised fears of a wider regional conflict, with hostilities flaring with mostly Iranian-backed militant groups in neighboring countries that say they support Hamas.
The Israeli army announced on Sunday evening that it had intercepted two “enemy aircraft” that took off from Syria towards northern Israel. It had previously reported launches into Israeli territory originating in Lebanon.
“Throughout the day, IDF (military) tanks and helicopters targeted three terrorist groups operating in Lebanon,” the army said in a statement.
And in the Red Sea, the U.S. military said Sunday that naval helicopters fired on Iran-backed Houthi rebel boats off Yemen that attacked a cargo ship, with Yemeni sources reporting 10 rebels killed.