JERUSALEM 

The Israeli army’s Nahal Brigade has withdrawn from the Gaza Strip to prepare for a looming ground attack in Rafah city, according to local media on Thursday.

The brigade will be replaced by the 679th Armored Brigade and the 2nd Infantry Brigade, Israeli Army Radio reported.

The elite brigade will be given time for rest, recuperation and training before a planned ground offensive in Rafah, where more than 1.4 million people have taken refuge from Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, the Israeli public broadcaster KAN said that the army was planning to invade Rafah very soon, in an operation that includes evacuating thousands of people from the city.

Last week, an Israeli government spokesperson said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set a date for invading Rafah, the last remaining area in Gaza where Israel has not yet formally announced the entry of its troops to continue the onslaught against Palestinians.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 34,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 77,300 others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar