It’s been 6 months since October 7th, when Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people and captured 250. Ever since then, Hamas has been pummeled by Israel’s Defense Force’s air strikes and ground invasion of Gaza.
They are now in pieces, taking refuge in underground bunkers and tunnels, in refugee camps, and undercover in civilian areas. That is why the Israeli government has ordered the withdrawal of IDF forces from the south of Gaza.
In their place, only 1 brigade, The Nahal Brigade, would be tasked with securing the Netzarim Corridor. This is a corridor, or rather, a highway with some defenses running through the middle of the Gaza Strip in Gaza City from Israel to the Mediterranean Sea.
The entire point of the highway is to allow the IDF to have a free hand in Gaza, mainly allowing for quick response time to any major developments regarding Hamas in Gaza. Yet you would think pulling out troops who protected this vital road would be counterproductive, but you’d be wrong.
You see, the Israeli government pulled out of Southern Gaza to allow the 98th Commando Division to recuperate. Mainly due to 4 months of intense fighting in Gaza with Hamas insurgents.
The Israeli government is also planning future operations in the strip, so these troops will likely be redeployed to the area once they are well-rested and resupplied. Israel’s war is still not over, the government wants to make sure nothing like October 7th can happen again.
There is also a diplomatic reason for pulling out of Gaza, according to The Guardian, Egypt is hosting peace negotiations in Cairo and Israel has agreed to send negotiators. As of right now, 2.3 million have been displaced and a further 33,000 have been killed by the IDF, Israel themselves say they have killed 2 civilians for every 1 Hamas fighter.
But as always, we should see what the average Joe thinks about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I went and asked Brandon Colon in the 10th grade what he thought and he said “Israel is a big winner and Palestine can go away.”
Then there was Henriana Barthelemy in the 9th grade who said “I think it’s really sad, I think if they tried to sort it with peace instead of violence a lot of death could have been avoided.”
In conclusion, the war is still dragging on as Hamas bunkers down in hiding and the IDF goes hunting them down, but no matter who wins, in the end, the only people who lose are civilians caught in the crossfire.
