Israel's military announced Monday it is about to initiate its first major drawdown of troops from Gaza since the ground offensive began. This is to involved pulling back multiple thousands of reserve soldiers to begin with, at least temporarily.
"This move is expected to significantly alleviate economic burdens and enable them to gather strength for upcoming activities in the next year," the Israel Defense Forces statement said. Reservists from two brigades are expected home this week, while three more brigades will return to Israel for training.
This appears to be in response to recent White House pressure to dial down the intensity of the fighting amid the soaring Palestinian civilian death toll, but also as the Netanyahu governing coalition faces growing anger domestically over how it has handled the war and hostage situation especially. An estimated over 350,000 IDF troops had been mobilized for the war effort.
Additionally, as The New York Times explains, "The call-up added to the economic burden faced by hundreds of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes on Israel’s borders following the attacks." This as "The Israeli economy is expected to shrink by 2 percent this quarter, the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, a nonpartisan think tank in Israel, said in late December, as many left the labor force for reserve duty or abandoned businesses in their hometowns."
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari described that the IDF is "adjusting" its "fighting methods to each area in Gaza" to prepare for a long war. "Tonight, 2024 will begin. The goals of the war require lengthy fighting, and we are prepared accordingly," he said Sunday.
A White House official has been quoted in the NY Times as saying that recent war planning discussions between Israeli and US top officials has focused on a strategy that seeks to "maximize focus on high-value Hamas targets."
Again, between the lines here is likely the strain the Biden administration is feeling from other countries and allies over the 21,000+ Palestinian deaths, among them possibly over 8,000 children, according to Gaza Health Ministry statements. Over 50,000 people have been wounded.
And as the conflict continues grinding, disease and hunger will persist and become bigger factors in terms of more casualties and the dire humanitarian crisis unfolding.
On the military front, however, Hamas appears fully intact, still having lost likely several thousand, but is waging a guerrilla campaign using small teams which effectively utilize the tunnel system. Very likely, it's part of Hamas' war aims to lead Israel into a "trap" and endless quagmire in Gaza, which appears to already be happening.