Residents said Israel withdrew its tanks from certain areas of the Gaza Strip on Monday, January 1, 2024, while intensifying its bombardment of the Palestinian enclave. A maneuver that testifies to the conflict entering a new phase.
The Israeli government says the war in Gaza, which has reduced much of the territory to rubble, killed thousands and plunged its 2.3 million residents into a humanitarian catastrophe, must continue for several more months.
But Israel announced a new phase of its offensive as an official said on Monday, January 1, 2024 that the army would withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip this month and move to a phase of “more local cleansing” that is still ongoing will last months.
Fighting continued unabated in central parts of the enclave on Monday, residents said. Tanks advanced into al-Bureij and airstrikes targeted al-Nusseirat, al-Maghazi and the southern city of Khan Younes. According to health authorities, at least ten people were killed in attacks on Al Maghazi on Monday morning.
Israeli military operations are not preventing Hamas from continuing to fire rockets, as shown by the volley that Tel Aviv received on the night of Sunday to Monday. As Israeli tanks and troops invaded most of the northern Gaza Strip, Hamas stepped up attacks from tunnels and bunkers in the enclave's narrow streets.