According to Mako News military correspondent Shai Levy, the IDF's reduction of forces in the northern strip is due to the destruction of Hamas' big units in the area, allowing the army to shift to a more systematic and time-consuming effort to "root out" the remaining Hamas squads and its terrorist infrastructure.
By contrast, the southern strip and especially Khan Yunis still contains a number of large and intact Hamas units, which requires the IDF to continue the sort of large, high intensity fighting it has conducted thus far in the north.
The operation in the southern strip is made more complicated by the efforts of the IDF to not only target Hamas but also find any possible clues as to the location and status of the remaining hostages in the Strip, who are thought to be in the Khan Yunis area.
Either way, IDF operations are not set to end anytime soon and are set to continue for the next several months. Officers are even talking about keeping residents of Gaza City out of the north for fear terrorists will infiltrate back into the area, though it is unclear if this is politically feasible.
