A Long Six Months

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Israel withdrew most of its ground troops from the southern part of the Gaza Strip Sunday – the six-month anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel – even as the Israeli government faces growing criticism at home and abroad for its handling of the offensive in the Palestinian enclave, the Washington Post reported.

Only one Israel Defence Forces (IDF) brigade remained in Khan Younis, the largest city in Gaza’s south, after the military reduced its presence in the territory, under pressure from the US and Europe to address an intensifying humanitarian crisis, Reuters explained.

An Al Jazeera reporter in Rafah noted that soldiers were stationed in the enclave’s central area to prevent Palestinians from returning to the north. Observers posited that the IDF was redeploying its troops in preparation for a ground offensive in Rafah city, where over a million Gazans have taken shelter.

US President Joe Biden, who earlier said invading Rafah would be a “red line,” offered Israel a rare rebuke in the aftermath of an attack last week that killed seven members of the World Central Kitchen (WCK).

In an unusually rapid probe, a retired army general concluded that IDF officers had violated military procedures. The Israeli army on Friday dismissed two soldiers and reprimanded three others for their roles in the strikes, the Associated Press reported.

While the WCK acknowledged “important steps forward,” it called for “systemic change” and an independent investigation. The incident was “not an anomaly,” said Oxfam, describing the killing of aid workers in Gaza as “systemic.”

Israel’s admission of wrongdoings came as it has faced widespread accusations of not doing enough to protect civilians in Gaza, where Israeli strikes have killed at least 33,175 people since Oct. 7, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that the return of more than 120 remaining Israeli hostages was a sine qua non of any cease-fire deal.

Meanwhile, the IDF said on Saturday it had recovered the body of Elad Katzir, an Israeli who was abducted on Oct. 7, and said he was killed in January. That evening, protesters in the capital Tel Aviv chanted, “Elad, we’re sorry.”

As many as 100,000 people demonstrated at the city’s Democracy Square over the weekend, the scene of months of anti-government protests last year before the war began, the Times of Israel reported. Demonstrators demanded snap elections and an immediate hostage release agreement.

Meanwhile, during the protest, a Netanyahu supporter drove his car into the crowd, injuring five people. Israeli politicians condemned the attack, with President Isaac Herzog calling it “most grave.” He warned Israelis that unity was key to the war’s outcome, saying, “We cannot return to October 6.”