Israel’s offensive in Gaza enters new phase

Israeli tanks pulled out of some Gaza City districts yesterday while remaining in others, residents said, ahead of a planned troop reduction in the offensive, but fighting raged elsewhere in the Palestinian enclave along with intense bombardment.

Israel says the offensive in Gaza, which has reduced much of the territory to rubble, killing thousands and plunging its 2.3 million people into a humanitarian disaster, has many months to go.

But Israel has signalled a coming shift in tactics, with an official saying yesterday that the military would draw down forces inside Gaza this month and shift to a months-long phase of more localised "mopping up" operations.

The official said the troop reduction would allow some reservists to return to civilian life, shoring up Israel's economy, and free up units in case of a wider conflict in the north with Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah.

• 156 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in 24 hours
• Israel pulls tanks from some districts in enclave 
• Signals partial redeployment to Lebanese border

Artillery fire between Hezbollah and Israel has rattled the border since the start of the Gaza offensive and any new escalation carries risks for a wider regional war. Iran-backed fighters in Yemen have meanwhile attacked Red Sea shipping.

Residents of Sheikh Radwan district in Gaza City, in the northern part of the enclave that Israel's offensive focused on first, said tanks had withdrawn after what they described as the most intense 10 days of warfare since the offensive began.

Tanks also pulled out of Gaza City's al-Mina district and parts of Tel al-Hawa district, while retaining some positions in the suburb controlling the enclave's main coastal road, residents said.

However, tanks remained in other parts of northern Gaza and health officials said some people trying to return to their homes in a southern district of Gaza City had been killed by Israeli fire on Sunday, reports Reuters.

Fighting in central parts of the enclave continued unabated yesterday, residents there said, with tanks pushing into al-Bureij and air strikes targeting al-Nusseirat, al-Maghazi and the southern city of Khan Younis.

Heavy artillery fire in central Gaza killed at least 24 people, health ministry officials there said, with attacks reported across the length of the territory.

Since October 7, Israeli bombardment in the Palestinian enclave killed at least 21,978 people and injured 56,697, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry. The figures include 156 Palestinians killed and 246 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

Countries around the region fear the offensive could spill over. Israel and Hezbollah last fought a major war in Lebanon in 2006 and their fighting since October 7 has been the most intense since then.

"The situation on the Lebanese front will not be allowed to continue. This coming six-month period is a critical moment," the Israeli official said.

Israel has also struck sites in Syria, while Iran-backed militia groups there and in Iraq have also targeted Israel's US allies.