[Jimbuna]

Israel withdraws almost all troops from southern Gaza - as 'desperate' Netanyahu wants ceasefire deal

Only one brigade remains in Khan Younis and is tasked with securing the 'Netzarim corridor' that divides the Gaza Strip, according to a report from The Times of Israel.

The move comes six months to the day that Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis, prompting the war in Gaza.

The pullout of troops is linked to ongoing negotiations with Hamas over Israeli hostages and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "desperate" for a ceasefire deal, a senior source in the Israeli government told Sky's Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall.

The killings of seven Gaza aid workers in an Israeli airstrike "changed everything", the source added.

Israel had planned a ground invasion of the southern city of Rafah, claiming it is a hive of Hamas's remaining strongholds. More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million population are taking refuge in the city.

Israel had been warned of "disastrous consequences" if it went ahead with the ground invasion but insisted it would.

On Sunday morning, following the withdrawal of the troops, Sky News spoke to Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hyman, who said Benjamin Netanyahu would "absolutely" go ahead with a ground invasion of Rafah.

"If we don't go ahead with Rafah, we lose the war," he said.

"We're certainly entering a new phase of this war," says Sky's Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall.

"It looks like, as a lot of people have been putting pressure on Israel to do for some time now, it will move to more of a counter-terrorism strategy.

"So rather than a full blown, land occupation within Gaza, it will be operations that are based on intelligence going into certain areas."

Meanwhile, an Iranian official says none of Israel's embassies are safe any more, after a suspected Israeli strike on the Iran consulate in Damascus.

Twenty-eight Israeli embassies around the world temporarily closed on Friday due to fears of reprisal from Iran, the official said.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...f94c97d6&ei=13