Israel says its troops have withdrawn from Khan Younis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, leaving just one brigade behind, Financial Times reported.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday (Apr. 7) said it it pulling out its forces to "recuperate and prepare for future operations", according to NBC News.

Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas will be sending representatives to Cairo, Egypt, to discuss plans for a possible ceasefire to the six-month conflict.

Preparing for future operations

IDF did not provide any explanation for withdrawing soldiers or the numbers involved, Reuters reported.

An Israeli brigade usually comprises a few thousand troops.

However, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that the military is going to prepare for future operations in Gaza.

Israel has reportedly been reducing the number of its forces in Gaza since the beginning of the year to alleviate reservists.

According to BBC, the withdrawal of troops can be seen as a tactical move rather than a sign that the war might come to an end.

IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told BBC: "The war is not over. War can only be over when they [hostages] come home and when Hamas is gone."

Possibility of a truce

Both Israel and Hamas said that they would be sending envoys to Egypt to discuss the possibility of a truce to the war.

What Hamas wants

For Hamas, any potential agreement must lead to an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The agreement must also include the freedom of movement of residents throughout the Gaza Strip.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, more than 33,100 Palestinians, including 13,800 children, have been killed in the Israeli offensive since the Oct. 7 attack.

What Israel wants

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said no deal would be made without the release of hostages and that he would not give in to international pressure.

The United Nations Security Council recently passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the Islamic month of Ramadan.

The U.S., which usually supports Israel diplomatically in the UN, abstained from the vote thereby allowing it to pass.

More than 250 Israelis were held hostage while about 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Oct. 7 attack.

At the moment, around 130 hostages are still in Gaza. Israel said that at least 34 of the hostages are dead.

Israel also said it would bring an end to Hamas after the conclusion of any deal.

Will continue with war until Hamas is no longer a threat to Israel

Israel's Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said that Israel will continue with the war until Hamas is no longer a threat to Israel as a military group, or that it no longer controls Gaza.

The Israeli forces are "exiting and preparing for their next missions", and also "their coming mission in the Rafah area", Aljazeera reported, quoting Defence Minister Gallant.

Israel said that an attack on Rafah, a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip and near the border with Egypt, is crucial to eliminate Hamas.

Rafah, however, has turned into the last refuge for more than a million Palestinians.

Foreign powers have expressed concerns that an incursion into the Rafah area could result in an unacceptable toll on civilians, according to Reuters.

Israel, however, said that it would evacuate civilians before launching an incursion.

Remaining hopeful

Some of the displaced remain hopeful that they will soon be able to return to come back to what was left of their homes.

32-year-old Muhammad al-Mughrabi from Gaza City, currently residing with his family in Rafah, told BBC that he was "filled with hope as [his] neighbour in a tent from Khan Younis was able to return home".

"Despite knowing that my house was completely destroyed, I dream daily of returning to my hometown. I will set up a tent over the rubble of my house and live there with dignity, rather than being compelled to reside in the courtyard of a hospital."

Palestinian citizens of Khan Younis, which has come under Israeli bombardment in recent months, said they had seen Israeli forces withdrawing from the centre of the city and moving to eastern districts.

Started to return home

Some residents from Khan Younis, who sought shelters in Rafah, started to return to their neighbourhoods after the Israeli troops left.

Imad Joudat, 55, told Reuters that "the occupation withdrew forces from Khan Younis, the Americans are pressuring after some foreigners were killed and Egypt is holding a big round with the Americans, the Israelis, Hamas and Qatar".

"This time we are hopeful."

"It seems at the end it may be a happy Eid," said the 55-year-old, who lives with his eight-member family in a tent in Rafah.

Eid al-Fitr refers to the "festival of breaking the fast" and is celebrated after the fasting month of Ramadan comes to an end. It is celebrated by Muslims all around the world.

This year, Eid al-Fitr will be celebrated on Apr. 10.

Increased international pressure

Israel has been facing mounting pressure from the U.S. to avoid civilian casualties and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The pressure further intensified after seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen were in an Israeli air strike in central Gaza last week, after they had "unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on maritime route".

The workers included a Palestinian man, a Polish man, and others from Australia, the UK and one who held dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called on Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza and to work towards a ceasefire, adding that U.S. support could depend on it.

This is the first time Biden, seen as a staunch supporter of Israel, has publicly attempted to influence Israeli military behaviour by using the U.S. backing as leverage.

The U.S. is the biggest supplier of arms to Israel.

Biden also called upon the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to pressure Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal before the discussion with Israel in Egypt.

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Top image via Israel Defense Forces/Facebook.