Changes are coming. Israel announced for the New Year that it will withdraw a small part of its troops from Gaza. In principle, these are five brigades of reservists that would have acted, basically, in the north of the strip, an area that Jerusalem has considered largely under its control for days.
The movement is more technical than substantive and an Israeli official remarked to Reuters today that Israel plans to extend the conflict “for at least six months.” Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari further explains that reservists who will be withdrawn from the front in the coming weeks will take a break to prepare for “prolonged combat.” The army “must plan ahead, because we will be called upon for additional tasks and combat this year,” he explained.
After three months of war, everything indicates that a new phase is entering, but also that the possibility of Israel opening a second land front, this time against Hizbullah in Lebanon, is increasing. In the north of the country there is not a day when rocket alerts are not activated.
In Gaza, meanwhile, the war does not subside. This Monday, the Gaza Ministry of Health brought the death count closer to 22,000 people. And the Israeli offensive intensifies in the center of the strip, particularly in the Al Burayi refugee camp. Yebalia, in the north of the enclave, and Khan Yunis, in the south, suffer equally intense fighting.
Even New Year’s was received in the early hours of today with renewed violence. Dizengoff Street, in the center of Tel Aviv, long and full of bars, was a party to welcome 2024. It lasted a sigh. At 00:00 rockets cascaded from Gaza to the south of Tel Aviv. Israel bombed the strip in turn.
Large, white, bloody teddy bears remain on the pedestrian benches in central Tel Aviv as a reminder that more than 120 Hamas hostages are still being held captive. And Beniamin Netanyahu’s most radical ministers continue to insist on depopulating the strip. And Hamas, despite everything, resists. The war is expected to be long.
