Five combat brigades of the Israeli occupation forces were withdrawn from Gaza and back to occupied Palestine despite the intensifying fighting as part of the Israeli occupation's invasion of the blockaded strip.

Israeli occupation forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi decided Sunday that four IOF brigades would be withdrawn from Gaza, ending their fighting there, and are set to be released back into occupied Palestine.

The units ordered to be withdrawn from Gaza according to the Times of Israel newspaper include two reserve brigades, namely the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade; and the 551st Reserve Paratroopers Brigade, as well as three regular fighting brigades.

The regular brigades include the 460th Armored Brigade, in charge of the Armored Corps training base; the 261st Brigade, overseeing the Bahad 1 officers’ school during wartime; and the 828th Brigade, responsible for the School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders.

The reasons behind the withdrawal varied, with Halevi claiming that the combat brigades were to be released in order to "train the next generation of commanders on land."

He added that more forces would be withdrawn from the Northern Command in the coming week.

Reservists withdrawn for economic reasons

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Meanwhile, the Times of Israel said the reserve brigades were being returned to occupied Palestine to help the struggling Israeli economy amid rampant unemployment.

This comes on the heels of the IOF's Golani Brigades 13th Battalion withdrawing from Gaza after suffering substantial losses within its ranks, which culminated in a well-drawn ambush in the al-Shujaiya neighborhood.

Seven Golani troops, including two high-ranking officers, were killed on December 12, when Resistance fighters ambushed occupation forces in the al-Shujaiya.

This toll includes Litenuent Colonel Tomer Grinberg, the commander of the 13th Battalion, and Colonel Izhak Ben Basat, the head of the Golani Brigade chief's forward command team. Grinberg was previously videotaped rallying his troops in the northern Gaza Strip, promising them victory. The 13th Batallion also lost Major Roei Meldasi, a company commander in the same ambush.

Nine days following the historic ambush that crushed soldiers and officers from Golani's 51st and 13th Battalion, the IOF has decided to pull out the battered 13th Batallion from the Gaza Strip, in order to "regroup and rest."

Command chain broken

In its aggressions, the Israeli occupation has heavily relied on the Golani Brigade's Battalions to achieve what it deems as "victory". The same was expected from Golani fighters in Gaza, specifically in al-Shujaiya, which represented a major hurdle for the Brigade that had already experienced heavy losses during the 2014 war on Gaza.

However, the Brigade failed to meet its command's expectations, instead, its soldiers scrambled in Gaza, as the Palestinian Resistance broke its command chain, by eliminating key figures.

The Israeli Channel 12 reported that for the first time since the occupation launched its invasion of the Gaza Strip, the 13th Batallion's troops will take a break to refresh in the Gaza Envelope. The Israeli media outlet said that the occupation soldiers would only be given a 48-hour break before being redeployed in Gaza. 

It is worth noting that Israeli paratroopers will also pull out from the Gaza Strip, for the same timeframe.

Interestingly, the Israeli occupation forces had allowed the paratroopers a short break, after families of occupation soldiers criticized the Israeli military command for their extended deployment. The Channel 12 also shed light on letters sent by occupation forces to their families from within the Gaza Strip, in which they discussed the difficult conditions they face, including "lack of sleep."