Israel's partial withdrawal from the southern Gaza Strip is intended to allow its troops to rest and not prepare for another operation, the White House said.
"They've been in the field for four months, the information we're getting is that they're tired, they need to recover," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC's "This Week."
Kirby spoke hours after Israel, which is under increasing pressure from Washington over the rising death toll in the conflict, withdrew all its troops from southern Gaza, including the town of Khan Younis, which it had previously said it was attacking.
The Israeli military said a "significant force" would continue to operate in the rest of Gaza. /BGNES, AFP
