Israeli defence minister spells out vision for next steps in Gaza

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip outside a morgue in Khan Younis on Thursday (Mohammed Dahman/AP)

Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant has said Israeli forces would shift to a scaled-down “new combat approach” in northern Gaza in the next phase of the conflict.

He said forces would continue to fight Hamas in the south of the territory “for as long as necessary.”