The Israeli army on Tuesday suffered one among its highest single-day casualty counts since Israel started its floor invasion of Gaza in late October: Ten troopers have been killed in fight within the north of the enclave, the army stated.
Israeli army radio reported that 9 of the troopers had been killed in heavy combating in Shajaiye, a neighborhood in Gaza Metropolis that has been a spotlight of fight in latest days because the army pushes to root out Hamas fighters from the enclave.
The army stated that the troopers had been killed throughout an “superior stage of our efforts to clear the world of Hamas.” It stated that they had died whereas making an attempt to rescue injured troopers who had misplaced contact with their unit after coming underneath fireplace in a constructing the army described as residential with a tunnel opening on its premises.
Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni, a retired former commander of the Israel army’s Gaza division who operated in Shajaiye within the early 2000s, stated that combating within the neighborhood was problematic due to the densely packed buildings. As well as, he stated, “rescue missions are all the time trickier, since you take larger dangers to avoid wasting your troopers.”
Israel’s account couldn’t be independently confirmed. Hamas stated in a press release on the Telegram app that the Israeli army’s announcement confirmed “the failure of the entities’ leaders and its military in its confrontation with the Qassam Brigades’ robust resistance.”
A lot of the casualties on Tuesday have been infantry fighters, however in addition they included a colonel and a lieutenant colonel, the highest-ranking Israeli officers killed for the reason that invasion started, in response to the Israeli army.
Though Israel has prolonged its floor invasion into southern Gaza this month, heavy combating is ongoing in northern Gaza. Because the Hamas-led Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, which Israeli officers say killed 1,200 folks, 444 Israeli troopers have misplaced their lives, in response to the nation’s army. A couple of quarter of these casualties have occurred since Israel began its floor invasion, the army stated.
On the similar time, over 15,000 Palestinians, lots of them ladies and youngsters, have died amid Israel’s retaliatory army marketing campaign, in response to the Gazan well being ministry. Gazan well being officers don’t distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters of their demise tolls.