The IDF has withdrawn all ground troops from the southern Gaza Strip, with only one brigade remaining in the coastal enclave, a military spokesperson said Sunday.
This comes after four consecutive months of fighting in the former Hamas stronghold of Khan Younis and six months since the start of the war.
According to the reports, the last brigade remaining in the Strip is the Nahal infantry unit, which is there to secure the Netzarim Corridor that splits the Gazan north and south, enabling the IDF to control movements in the area. It crosses the Strip from the Be'eri area in southern Israel to the Mediterranean coast.
The Netzarim Corridor prevents Gazans from returning to the north of the Strip and allows for humanitarian aid to enter directly into northern Gaza.
Four IDF commandoes were killed in action in southern Gaza on Saturday, the IDF announced on Sunday. Terrorists emerged from a tunnel in Khan Younis and ambushed the soldiers at close range, the army said.
The attack raised the military's death toll to 604 on all fronts since the war started. Their deaths bring the number of soldiers slain since the start of ground operations in Gaza on Oct. 27 to 260.
The IDF said on Saturday that it had destroyed three Hamas attack tunnels in the Khan Younis area, some of which reached into Israeli territory. The tunnels had been under intelligence and technological surveillance for several years, according to the military.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
