US: IDF troop withdrawal from south Gaza likely just R&R, not prep for new operation

Israel’s partial withdrawal from the southern Gaza Strip is likely so troops can “rest and refit,” rather than a move toward a new operation, the White House says.

“They’ve been on the ground for four months, the word we’re getting is they’re tired, they need to be refit,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby tells ABC’s “This Week,” though he stresses that it is “hard to know exactly what this tells us right now.”

The Israel Defense Forces withdrew all of its maneuvering ground forces from Gaza early this morning, leaving just one brigade to secure a corridor across the Palestinian enclave.

The corridor enables the IDF to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza, prevents Palestinians from returning to the northern part of the Strip, and allows humanitarian organizations to deliver aid directly to northern Gaza.

The withdrawal appears to be a move similar to that carried out in northern Gaza following the IDF’s initial ground offensive last year. After several months of a large-scale offensive with several divisions, the IDF left northern Gaza, only to return to carry out smaller, localized, operations.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.