The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said to have withdrawn all ground troops from southern Gaza during the night between April 6 and 7.

This announcement came four months after the Israeli military started fighting on the ground in the Khan Younis area.

Only the Nahal Brigade has remained in the area, the Times of Israel reported, tasked with securing the Netzarim Corridor.

This east-west passage linking the Be’eri area in southern Israel to the Mediterranean Sea was built by the IDF and cuts through the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army denied the withdrawal had been prompted by external pressures. Rather, it was explained as the outcome of the exhaustion of all intelligence and combat operations in the region.

An army official reported by the Israeli news outlet said: “The logic that leads us today is mistaken… We are willing to operate whenever we’re needed, but there’s no need for us to remain in the sector without an [operational] need… The 98th division dismantled Hamas’ Khan Yunis brigades and killed thousands of its members. We did everything we could there.”

The army, the official added, would “continue to operate there according to operational need”, but the withdrawal allows for displaced Palestinians to return to their homes after sheltering in Rafah.

Half of the 2.3 million people living in Gaza are believed to have fled to Rafah as Israeli ground troops started their advance into the Strip.

This withdrawal doesn’t mean Tel Aviv is not committed to a ground invasion of Rafah, according to Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hyman.

Amid warnings from Israeli international allies not to carry out this military move, Mr Hyman told Sky News: “If we don’t go ahead with Rafah, we lose the war.”

Asked what the point was in joining ceasefire talks, set to begin today in Cairo, when Israel was committed to a ground invasion, he said: “We will do our absolute utmost to ensure that we keep up maximum military pressure against Hamas and we keep all the diplomatic channels open”.

The announcement was made on Sunday, a day marking six months since the unprecedented terror attack launched by Hamas on Israel.

During the assault, 1,139 people were killed and more than 240 hostages were dragged to the Strip, according to Israeli authorities.

Since then, Hamas has released more than 100 people but continues to hold some 130 hostages.

This unprecedented assault by Hamas prompted Tel Aviv to respond with airstrikes and a ground operation into Gaza.

The Hamas-run health ministry in the Strip has claimed that more than 33,000 people have been killed over the past six months.

The IDF has claimed in a recent statement to have eliminated around 13,000 Hamas fighters, and has named dozens of senior leaders of the terror group believed to have been killed. On March 26, the Israeli military claimed to have killed Marwan Issa, deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing.

On April 1, three British nationals were among the seven aid workers killed by an Israeli strike while undertaking a World Central Kitchen mission to deliver humanitarian efforts.