Israel's Defence Minister has outlined his country’s plans for the next stage of its war in Gaza.
Yoav Gallant said there would be a new more targeted approach in the northern section of the enclave and a continuing pursuit of Hamas leaders in the south.
The announcement came as Israel continued drawing down its forces in Gaza to allow thousands of reservists to return to their jobs after growing international pressure to shift to less intense combat operations.
"In the northern region of the Gaza strip, we will transition to a new combat approach in accordance with military achievements on the ground," Mr Gallant's office said in a statement.
It outlined what it called the guiding principles reflecting Mr Gallant's vision for the next phases of the war.
He said operations would include raids, demolishing tunnels, air and ground strikes, and special forces operations.
In the south of the besieged enclave, where most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is now living, many in tents and other temporary shelters, the operation would continue to try to eliminate Hamas leaders and rescue Israeli hostages.
"It will continue for as long as is deemed necessary," Mr Gallant said.
After the war, he said that Hamas would no longer control Gaza and Israel would reserve its operational freedom of action.
But he said there would be no Israeli civilian presence and Palestinian bodies would be in charge of the enclave.
"Gaza residents are Palestinian, therefore Palestinian bodies will be in charge, with the condition that there will be no hostile actions or threats against the State of Israel."
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the 7 October attack by Hamas gunmen who killed some 1,200 people in Israel and took around 240 into captivity as hostages, according to Israeli estimates.
Israel's offensive has killed more than 22,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, forced most of the population out of their homes and reduced much of Gaza to rubble.
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Nine children among 14 dead in strikes on southern Gaza
Earlier, Israeli shelling killed 14 Palestinians in Khan Younis, a southern coastal area of Gaza packed with people who had fled attacks in other parts of the territory, health ministry officials said.
The dead included nine children, according to an official.
There was no comment from the Israeli military on the attack although it had reported fighting and air strikes against Hamas militants in the Khan Younis area.
Gaza residents also said Israeli planes and tanks bombarded three refugee camps in the centre of the shattered enclave, prompting many civilians to head south.
Five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in Al-Nusseirat refugee camp, health officials said.
Israel's war against Hamas is nearing the three-month mark amid international concern that the conflict is spreading beyond Gaza, drawing in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Hezbollah forces on the Lebanon-Israel border, and Red Sea shipping lanes.
Fears were heightened after a drone strike on Tuesday killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
He was buried in the city - in the Palestinian camp of Shatila - today as mourners launched volleys of gunfire.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed that his powerful Iran-backed militia "cannot be silent" following the killing.
He said his forces would fight to the finish if Israel chose to extend the war to Lebanon, but he made no concrete threats to act against Israel in support of Hamas.
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari declined to comment when asked what Israel was doing to prepare for a potential Hezbollah response, saying only: "We are focused on the fight against Hamas."
Mr Gallant, meeting US envoy Amos Hochstein, said there must be a "new reality" in the Lebanon-Israel border region, which would allow Israelis who have evacuated northern areas to return.
Hezbollah has been embroiled in nearly daily exchanges of shelling with Israel across Lebanon's southern border since the Gaza war began.
Israel neither confirmed nor denied assassinating Arouri but it has promised to annihilate Hamas.
Adding to the patchwork of violence across the region, two explosions yesterday killed around 100 people during a memorial ceremony for the late Iranian General Qasem Soleimani at a cemetery in southeastern Iran where he is buried.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading for the Middle East, including a stop in Israel, to continue "diplomatic consultations", a US official said.
Red Crescent headquarters in Khan Younis hit
In today's strike in Al-Mawasi on the western side of Khan Younis, health ministry officials said nine children were among the 14 dead.
Israeli shells had landed near tents erected in the area by displaced people, they added.
Footage on Palestinian media showed several bodies wrapped in blankets inside a hospital morgue in Khan Younis.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its headquarters in Khan Younis was hit, killing one person and wounding others.
The Israeli military reported several clashes in the city, where it has said previously that it is trying to flush out Hamas leaders hiding there.
In its daily briefing, it said Israeli warplanes killed three Hamas militants who had tried to detonate explosive next to ground troops, and Israeli soldiers killed two more.
