Israel’s defence minister has said the country will gradually transition to the next phase of its operations in Gaza in which the local population would likely be able to first return to the north of the coastal strip, Reuters reports.

“I can tell you that soon we will be able to distinguish between different areas in Gaza,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a joint news conference with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Tel Aviv.

“In every area where we achieve our mission we will be able to transition gradually to the next phase and start working on bringing back the local population,” Gallant said.

“That means that it can be achieved maybe sooner in the north rather than in the south.”