Under pressure from the US and allies over the ‘unintentional’ killing of aid workers, Israel on Sunday adopted a conciliatory approach and pulled out troops from southern Gaza.
The Israeli military in a statement said the 98th commando division has “concluded its mission” in Khan Yunis and left “in order to recuperate and prepare for future operations”. However, the Israeli military said it will continue to have presence in the rest of the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is ready for a deal but is not ready to surrender. The partial withdrawal from Gaza should aid the truce talks expected to resume in Cairo. “There will be no ceasefire without the return of hostages. It just won’t happen,” he said. Netanyahu has been under pressure from the international community after Israel on April 1 dropped bombs on humanitarian workers of US-based food charity World Central Kitchen by mistake.
Last week, US President Joe Biden said his support for the war would depend on Israel curtailing the death of civilians and improving humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
Britain also demanded that the conflict must end. Israel’s public broadcaster Channel 11 reported that the remaining forces would be located along the Netzarim Corridor, a route that splits the Gaza Strip in two. Following the global outcry over the death of aid workers, Israeli military sacked two senior officers on Friday. Israeli military’s inquiry into the incident revealed that the drone operators did not follow rules and thought the World Central Kitchen’s cars were carrying Hamas gunmen.
The Israel Defence Forces apologised for its mistake and sacked a colonel and major for the failure and added that those who carried out the attack could face criminal prosecution. While welcoming the action, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres called for an independent probe into the Israeli strike that killed his staff, and warned that the conflict had become a “war against humanity itself.”
Reacting to Israel’s partial withdrawal, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “As we understand it, and through their public announcements, it is really just about rest and refit for these troops that have been on the ground for four months and not necessarily, that we can tell, indicative of some coming new operation for these troops.”