The Israeli military announced Monday that it is scaling back its operations in Gaza, suggesting the three-month war with Hamas has peaked.
The chief spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces informed The New York Times that the next phase in the conflict will involve fewer ground troops and airstrikes. The announcement was made after Hezbollah claimed that one of its commanders, Wissam al-Tawil, was killed in an airstrike across the Israel-Lebanon border.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israel military spokesman, discussed the transition with The Times:
Admiral Hagari said that Israel would continue to reduce the number of troops in Gaza, a process that began this month. As Israeli officials indicate that they have degraded Hamas’s military capabilities in northern Gaza, Admiral Hagari said the intensity of operations in the north Gaza had already started to ebb as the military shifts toward conducting more targeted raids there instead of wide-scale maneuvers.
He said that Israel would now focus on the group’s southern and central strongholds, particularly around the cities of Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.
He said Israel was also aiming to allow more humanitarian aid, including tents to house displaced people, into Gaza. The United Nations says that, as of the end of December, nearly 85 percent of Gazans, or some 1.9 million people, had been forced from their homes amid Israel’s airstrikes and ground campaign.
Admiral Hagari denied that Israel was committing genocide, saying that Israel took every precaution to avoid civilian deaths and was trying to increase aid delivery to Gaza.
The announcement comes just hours before the arrival of Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel as part of a diplomatic effort to prevent the war from escalating into a regional conflict.
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