Israel’s army said on Friday it has ended its major month-long operation in the southern Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.
The army added that it killed over 250 militants during the mission.
Tunnel routes used by the Palestinian militant group Hamas with a total length of more than six kilometres were destroyed during the operation and the bodies of six hostages recovered.
The residents of some neighbourhoods in the south of the Gaza Strip were previously called upon to flee, now allowed to return, an army spokesman announced in Arabic on social media.
The neighbourhoods are now once again part of an area designated as a humanitarian safe zone.
The withdrawn troops are now preparing for other missions in the Gaza Strip, the military said.
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 40,000 people have been killed and more than 98,000 others injured in Gaza during 10 months of war.
The figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters and cannot be independently verified at present.
The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, with more than 1,200 dead, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on Oct. 7.
