The White House said Sunday that Israel’s withdrawal of its troops from southern Gaza is likely to give them some rest a refit them for future fighting, but does not indicate a change in the IDF’s military strategy against Hamas.

“They’ve been on the ground for four months, the word we’re getting is they’re tired, they need to be refit,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC’s “This Week,” adding that it is “hard to know exactly what this tells us right now.”

The IDF pulled out all of its maneuvering ground forces from Gaza early Sunday morning, leaving behind just a single brigade to secure a corridor across the Palestinian enclave. This corridor allows the IDF to conduct raids in northern and central Gaza, prevents Palestinians from returning to the northern part of the Strip, and enables humanitarian organizations to deliver aid directly to northern Gaza.

The withdrawal is similar to a move made by the IDF in northern Gaza following an initial ground offensive late last year. After several months of large-scale operations with multiple divisions, the IDF withdrew from northern Gaza only to return for smaller, localized operations.

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