Israel begins less intense war phase after pressure from the U.S. to scale down advances in Gaza

Israel's military has turned its back on the aggressive plan against the Hamas group amidst pressure from the U.S. Joe Biden has advocated Israel to scale down its aggressive approach in the Gaza Strip as the U.S. is nearing an election later this year.

Israel Defence Forces are slowly rolling back its advances in Gaza as pressure from the U.S. has forced the Israeli leadership to slow down the invasion and retaliation against Hamas. The U.S. itself is facing pressure from back home as multiple pro-Palestine rallies are taking place. Amidst the upcoming polls, U.S. President Joe Biden has reportedly succumbed to the antisemitic protests.

Israel made massive advances in the last couple of months gaining momentum over the Hamas group. The intensity of Israel’s attack increased multifold in November causing major irreparable damage to Hamas’ leadership wing and on-ground forces. Hamas has little momentum left with only a small percentage of Israeli civilians in their captive as a bargaining chip.

The Israel Defence Force knocked on the doors of Hamas with multiple attacks on New Year's Eve. The first week of January saw multiple attacks taking place thus even killing Hamas’ number two in Beirut. However, Israel had already announced that it would be reducing the intensity by scaling back troops in the Gaza Strip. 

Israel’s decision to reduce the intensity was announced just before the arrival of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Israel military’s chief Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced the transition of Israel’s military campaign. The IDF will now shift focus to the southern and central strongholds of Hamas including Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

The U.S. has an election coming up later this year and the current government wants to woo all sections of the country for a return to power. U.S. President Joe Biden’s core voter base was unhappy due to the lack of action from the U.S. government to stop the Israel-Hamas war. Many large-scale protests have already taken place in the U.S. in support of Palestine since October.