Gaza–Israel conflict

The Israeli army has confirmed that thousands of troops will be withdrawn from the Gaza Strip. In preparation for an anticipated lower-intensity phase of the war, which began on October 7 against the Islamist movement Hamas, however, the Israel Defense Forces said they expected the fighting to last at least six months or even all of 2024.

Shelling and missile strikes rocked the length of the Gaza Strip overnight into Tuesday, after Israel's army warned its war against the territory's Hamas rulers will last through 2024.

Nearly three months of conflict have claimed almost 22,000 lives in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and devastated much of the besieged territory.

He added that, according to the testimony of Gaza residents, Israel has withdrawn tanks from some parts of the occupied Palestinian territory.
However, in other places, fighting is raging alongside intense Israeli airstrikes, reports Reuters.

Israeli strikes pounded Gaza on Sunday as both sides near the end of a dark year and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the war will last for "many months".

At least 48 Palestinians were killed in overnight bombing in Gaza City, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said, with many still buried under the rubble.

Israel attacked the headquarters of Hamas in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, said the spokesman of the Israeli Defense Forces, Daniel Hagari.

"During a ground operation in Khan Younis, the Israel Defense Forces attacked Hamas headquarters in the center of the city, including the Palestinian movement's intelligence command center," Hagari said.

Israel's relentless bombardments in Gaza for nearly three months destroyed 70 percent of the houses in the besieged strip, leaving nearly 1.5 million people homeless, the Hamas-run government's media office has revealed.

Israel is prepared to let ships deliver aid to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip "immediately" as part of a proposed sea corridor from Cyprus, the Israeli foreign minister said on Sunday, naming four European countries, including Greece, as potential participants.

Israelis and Palestinians end a dark year on Sunday, with no end in sight to the deadliest military offensive on Gaza, triggered by Hamas' attack on Israel.

There has been no respite from Israel's air raids, artillery fire or ground fighting with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to the despair of Palestinians surviving the onslaught.

Israel has subjected the town of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip to intense shelling with tanks and airstrikes. Clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters were also reported. A series of airstrikes hit the Nuseirat refugee camp.

After nearly three months of deadly strikes, incessant displacements and sputtering humanitarian aid, "exhausted" Gazans say they are desperate for an end to the fighting as Israel's war against Hamas looks set to grind on into the new year.