Displaced Palestinians walk home as Israel partially pulls troops out of south Gaza

AFP | Jerusalem     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Israel pulled its forces out of the southern Gaza Strip yesterday in a partial withdrawal that came half a year into the war from October 7.

After the troops left areas in and around the largely destroyed city of Khan Yunis, a stream of displaced Palestinians walked there, hoping to return to their homes from temporary shelters in far-southern Rafah.

An Israeli security expert said the withdrawal in no way means the war is over. The Israeli army said a “significant force” would stay on elsewhere in the besieged territory as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “one step away from victory”.

Muhammad Yunis, 51, a Palestinian in northern Gaza, sees nothing but loss. “Isn’t the bombing, death and destruction enough?” he asked. “There are bodies still under the rubble. We can smell the stench.”

On a day when talks toward a truce deal were set to resume in Cairo, Netanyahu also stressed that “there will be no ceasefire without the return of hostages”. He is facing intense pressure at home, from families and supporters of hostages seized by the militants, and from a resurgent anti-government protest movement.

“Israel is ready for a deal, Israel is not ready to surrender,” he told his cabinet in a speech to mark six months since Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel. Israel has faced growing global opposition to the war, and a chorus of outrage over the killing of seven aid workers of the US-based food charity World Central Kitchen in a drone strike on April 1.

Vast areas of Gaza have been turned into a rubble-strewn wasteland, and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Sunday warned the “prospect of famine is real” in Gaza. Charities have accused Israel of blocking aid, but Israel has defended its efforts and blamed shortages on groups’ inability to distribute assistance once it gets in.

Netanyahu has come under heightened pressure from Israel’s top ally the United States to work toward a truce and hostage deal and to allow vastly more aid into the territory.