The Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza announced on Sunday was greeted with widespread surprise, even as the Israeli army and government have been at pains to stress that it has no great significance.

But to a world that has watched the intensity of Israel’s bombardment, the idea that there was now just one brigade left in the entire enclave seemed to signify some major shift in the war.

And then there was the timing of the announcement – on the very day that marked the grim milestone of six months since the Hamas-led assault on Israel ignited this latest and bloodiest phase in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

“Don’t read too much into it,” a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office told journalists the next day. Avi Hyman stressed how small the distances involved are and that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would therefore continue to be able to take whatever action it deemed necessary, with or without troops stationed inside Gaza.

As if to prove the point – just hours later, the Israeli army said it “eliminated” a senior Hamas operative, Hatem al-Ghamri, in an air strike.

The Israeli media has, however, responded very differently.

In the widely read and right-wing Israel Hayom, the paper’s diplomatic correspondent Ariel Kahana tied the troop withdrawal to pressure on the Israeli government to agree a ceasefire deal with Hamas in the latest round of talks.

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