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Israel Scales Back Forces in Gaza
(Wall Street Journal) Joshua Mitnick, Rory Jones and Nicholas Casey - Israel began scaling back its forces in Gaza on Sunday and pulled out of cease-fire negotiations in Cairo. Israel has begun redeploying forces. In some urban areas of Gaza on Saturday, witnesses saw Israeli tanks pulling back toward the border. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said the army would soon complete its goal of destroying more than 30 tunnels. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would demand that any reconstruction of Gaza and its future development be linked to a demilitarization of the territory. Israeli officials made it clear they were determined to deal with Hamas on their own terms, rather than becoming entangled in new cease-fire talks. "The diplomatic process is stalled," said Mike Herzog, a former Israeli negotiator who is close to the government. "Israel is unwilling to go for so-called humanitarian cease-fires, because they have been violated six times."