Israeli troops leaving Khan Younis

The Age & Sydney Morning Herald / AP | Jack Jeffery, Tia Goldenberg | 9 April 2024

There is no point in occupying a huge pile of rubble because that is all that is left after Israel has continued its genocidal destruction and murder of all Palestinians – Mark

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military has announced it has withdrawn its forces from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, wrapping up a key phase in its offensive against Hamas and bringing its troop presence in the territory to one of the lowest levels since the war began.
Israeli defence officials said troops were merely regrouping as the army prepares to move into Rafah. ‘‘The war in Gaza continues, and we are far from stopping,’’ said the military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi.
Israeli broadcaster Channel 13 TV reported that Israel was preparing to begin evacuating Rafah within a week and the process could take several months.
Still, the withdrawal was a milestone as Israel and Hamas marked six months of fighting. Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under army policy, said a ‘‘significant force’’ remained in Gaza to continue operations including in Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold and hometown of the group’s leader, Yehya Sinwar.
Video in Khan Younis showed some people returning to a landscape marked by shattered buildings and climbing over debris to explore crumbled remains. Cars were overturned and charred.
Israel for weeks has vowed it will start a ground offensive in Rafah but the city shelters 1.4 million people – more than half of Gaza’s population. The prospect of an offensive has raised global alarm, including from the US, which has demanded it sees a credible plan to protect civilians.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby repeated the US opposition to a Rafah offensive and told American broadcaster ABC that the US believes the partial Israeli withdrawal ‘‘is really just about rest and refit for these troops that have been on the ground for four months and not necessarily, that we can tell, indicative of some coming new operation for these troops’’.