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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it will shift from high-intensity full-scale warfare to low-intensity target-type combat in the ‘sweeping’ war against the armed faction Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.
Daniel Hagari the IDF’s senior spokesperson, said in an interview with The New York Times (NYT) on the 8th (local time), “The stage of the war has changed.”
◇ IDF spokesperson “Gaza war, shifting from large-scale operations to one-time raids”
“Weakening operation intensity in northern Gaza… Concentrated attacks on Hamas bases in central and southern Gaza”
NYT “Israeli forces in northern Gaza, decreased from 50,000 to less than half”
Colonel Hagari explained that the IDF will continue to reduce its troops in Gaza which started earlier this month and the intensity of operations in northern Gaza has already begun to weaken as the IDF shifts from maintaining large-scale operations to conducting one-time raids.
Colonel Hagari then stated that the IDF would focus on attacking Hamas bases in central and southern Gaza, especially around Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah.
U.S. officials are reporting that the Israeli forces in northern Gaza have decreased from about 50,000 at the peak of the operation to less than half and Israeli officials told U.S. officials that they hope to complete the operation transition by the end of this month but no schedule has been confirmed, according to the NYT.
If the IDF faces stronger Hamas resistance than expected or discovers unexpected threats, the scale and speed of troop reduction may slow down and concentrated airstrikes may continue.
Colonel Hagari said, “The IDF is also focusing on allowing more relief supplies to be brought in for the approximately 2 million refugees in Gaza.”
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◇ Israeli Defense Minister Gallant “Transitioning from war’s concentrated maneuver phase to special operations… A war with one axis”
The Times of Israel (TOI) reported that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant explained that the IDF is transitioning from the ‘concentrated maneuver phase of the war’ to ‘a different type of special operation’, and that the transition has not yet occurred but will soon.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Minister Gallant said, “My conventional view is that we are fighting not one enemy but one axis”, and “Iran is increasing its military power around Israel.”
He emphasized that the next chapter of the war will last longer and that Israel will not abandon its goal of destroying Hamas.
◇ U.S. Secretary of State Blinken, 4th visit to Israel after the outbreak of war… Pressuring to reduce Gaza war
The announcement of the Gaza war reduction plan through interviews with U.S. media by Minister Gallant and Colonel Hagari is not unrelated to the pressure from the Biden administration in the U.S.
After visiting Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken arrived in Israel for the fourth time since the outbreak of the war.
After a meeting with the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Secretary Blinken told the press corps, “We discussed normalization (with Israel) everywhere we stopped (on the Middle East tour), and the same here.” He added, “It’s clear that there’s interest in pursuing normalization,” and “This should be predicated upon the cessation of conflict in Gaza and the presentation of a real plan towards a Palestinian state.”
By. Man Joo Ha
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