White House says Israeli troop reduction does not signal new strategy: ‘They’re tired’

National Security
Spokesman

John
Kirby
on
Sunday
said
that
Israel’s
decision
to
pull
some
troops
out
of

Southern
Gaza
does
not
appear
to
indicate
a
shift
in
military
strategy.

“As
we
understand
it,
and
through
their
public
announcements,
it
is
really
just
about
rest
and
refit
for
these
troops
that
have
been
on
the
ground
for
four
months,
and
not
necessarily
—
that
we
can
tell
—
indicative
of
some
coming
new
operation,”

Kirby
said
in
an
interview
on
ABC’s “This
Week.” “The
word
we’re
getting
is
they’re
tired,
they
need
to
be
refitted.”

The

Israel
Defense
Forces
announced
Sunday
that
it
had “concluded
its
mission”
in
the
Southern
Gaza
city
of
Khan
Younis
and
that
it
would
reduce
its
military
troops
in
that
region “in
order
to
recuperate
and
prepare
for
future
operations.”

The
move
comes
six
months
since
the
Oct.
7
attack
by
Hamas.
The
Biden
administration
has
heated
up
its
rhetoric
against
Israel’s
military
conduct,
sparked
by
an
Israeli
air
strike
that
killed
seven
aid
workers
with
the
charity
World
Central
Kitchen.

In
a
phone
call
on
Thursday,
President

Joe
Biden
told
Israeli
Prime
Minister

Benjamin
Netanyahu
that
the
strikes
and
the
humanitarian
circumstances
in
the
war
are “unacceptable,”
according
to
a
White
House
summary.
He
also
emphasized
that
the
future
of
U.S.
policy
would
be
determined
by
Israel’s “immediate”
action
on
addressing
civilian
harm
and
humanitarian
suffering.

“We
have
been
increasingly
frustrated,”
Kirby
said
Sunday.

However,
he
added
in
a
separate
interview,
that
after
the
IDF
forces
leaving
Khan
Younis
have
finished
its “rest
and
refit,”
the
White
House
does
not
know
what
the
next
military
step
would
be.

Some
national
security
experts
see
this
as
a
possible
inflection
point
in
the
war,
though
the
direction
of
that
turn
remains
unclear.

“I
think
this
is
a
turning
point
in
the
campaign
in
Gaza,”
Michael
Horowitz,
head
of
intelligence
at
security
consultancy
Le
Beck
International,
told
NBC
News.

He
said
that
currently,
troops
are
not
going
in
to
replace
the
departing
forces
in
Khan
Younis,
possibly
signaling
a
more
targeted
military
approach,
which
the
U.S.
has
demanded
for
months.
He
added
that
replacing
those
troops
might
mean “Israel
launches
a
new
offensive,
against
Rafah,
for
instance.”

“What
they’ll
do
with
those
troops
after
the
rest
and
refit,
I
can’t
speak
to,”
Kirby
said
on
CBS’ “Face
the
Nation”
on
Sunday. “All
I
can
do
is
say
what
I
said
before:
We
don’t
support
a
major
ground
operation
in
Rafah.
That
has
not
changed.”