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Men walk with an animal-drawn cart carrying salvaged wood on Sunday after Israel pulled ground forces out of the southern Gaza Strip. (AFP/Getty Images)

Middle East conflict live updates Israel pulls most troops from south Gaza but says war is ‘far from stopping’

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Israel has withdrawn all but one brigade from southern Gaza as the war hits the six-month mark. Military officials say that the conflict is “far from stopping” and that troops are being rested for future missions. It’s unclear what the drawdown means for the timing of Israel’s planned ground offensive in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip where displaced Palestinians have swelled the population to about 1.4 million.

Key updates
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White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on ABC’s “This Week” that the drawdown is “about rest and refit.” He added that it is “not necessarily, that we can tell, indicative of some coming new operation for these troops.”
Israel and Hamas sent delegations to Cairo over the weekend for the latest round of cease-fire talks. CIA chief William J. Burns was in Cairo on Sunday for the talks, in a possible sign that diplomatic momentum is building after the sides couldn’t reach an agreement before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
At least 33,175 people have been killed and 75,886 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants and says the majority of the dead are women and children.
Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 260 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on ABC’s “This Week” that the drawdown is “about rest and refit.” He added that it is “not necessarily, that we can tell, indicative of some coming new operation for these troops.”
Israel and Hamas sent delegations to Cairo over the weekend for the latest round of cease-fire talks. CIA chief William J. Burns was in Cairo on Sunday for the talks, in a possible sign that diplomatic momentum is building after the sides couldn’t reach an agreement before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
At least 33,175 people have been killed and 75,886 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants and says the majority of the dead are women and children.
Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 260 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Israel-Gaza war

Israeli strikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza were “carried out in serious violation” of the military’s procedures and were a “grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification” of vehicles as carrying Hamas operatives, according to the findings of an Israeli military investigation.

Israel-Gaza war: On Oct. 7, Hamas militants launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel that included the taking of civilian hostages at a music festival. (See photos and videos of how the deadly assault unfolded). Israel declared war on Hamas in response, launching a ground invasion that fueled the biggest displacement in the region since Israel’s creation in 1948.

Gaza crisis: In Gaza, Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars, killing tens of thousands and plunging at least half of the population into “famine-like conditions.” For months, Israel has resisted pressure from Western allies to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave.

U.S. involvement: Despite the tensions between Netanyahu and some U.S. politicians, including Biden, the United States supports Israel with weapons, funds aid packages, and has vetoed or abstained from U.N. cease-fire resolutions.

History: The roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mistrust are deep and complex, predating the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Read more on the history of the Gaza Strip.