This picture taken during a media tour organized by the Israeli military on Jan 8, 2024, shows a soldier securing a position in al-Bureij in the central Gaza Strip. (PHOTO / AFP)

JERUSALEM/UNITED NATIONS - The Israeli army has started a new, less intensive phase in its military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Monday.

The IDF now turns to "conducting one-off raids there instead of maintaining wide-scale maneuver," Hagari was quoted by the New York Times as saying. "The war shifted a stage," he said.

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Israel will now focus on fighting against Hamas in central and southern Gaza, particularly around the cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, while reducing the number of its troops in Gaza, added Hagari.

Meanwhile, Dutch diplomat and politician Sigrid Kaag on Monday began her assignment as the United Nations' senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza

He also vowed that more humanitarian aid would be delivered to the enclave.

The remarks came after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the Wall Street Journal that Israeli forces would start a new chapter of the conflict that "will last for a longer time." 

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Meanwhile, Dutch diplomat and politician Sigrid Kaag on Monday began her assignment as the United Nations' senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, the UN announced.

She will facilitate, coordinate, monitor, and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza, said a spokeswoman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. 

Kaag has also received the mandate to establish a UN mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza through states which are not party to the conflict, the spokeswoman added.

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Kaag, who served as UN special coordinator for Lebanon from 2015 to 2017, will start her new post in Jordan with a view to moving to Egypt and later to Gaza.