The Israeli army said on Saturday that eight Israeli soldiers were killed while riding in an armored vehicle in southern Gaza, as an Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah continues to take its toll on soldiers.
The deaths occurred at about 5:15 a.m. during Israeli military operations in the northwestern Tel al-Sultan district of western Rafah, the Israeli military said. The eight soldiers, from an army engineering unit, were riding in an armoured vehicle when the explosion occurred.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said in a statement that its fighters had fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli military vehicle in the western city of Rafah, killing several soldiers. It was not immediately clear whether the damage to the vehicle was caused by an explosive device or an anti-tank missile, Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari told reporters.
Israeli military officials said the blast damaged the vehicle but may have also ignited ammunition inside, adding that the blast was so violent it would make it difficult to find and identify the bodies.
Israel has been fighting in Gaza for more than eight months, following an Oct. 7 Hamas-led offensive that has killed about 1,200 people inside Israel, mostly civilians, and taken about 250 hostages. More than 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to Palestinian health officials, who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Hamas has waged a persistent guerilla war and resisted Israeli attempts to decisively defeat the group, oust its leaders and return scores of people abducted in the Oct. 7 raids. The Israeli military says the operation has killed an estimated 13,000 to 14,000 fighters in Gaza, though Israeli officials have not provided a basis for that calculation.
More than 300 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Israel began its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip in late October. In late January, about 20 Israeli soldiers were killed while preparing to demolish a building in the Gaza Strip near the border with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly mourned the soldier’s death and called for the Israeli military to remain committed to its goals of destroying Hamas, bringing home the hostages and “ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.”
“There is no substitute for victory,” Netanyahu said, adding: “We must not let anyone distract us from the simple and obvious fact that we must remain committed to our war objectives, whatever the heavy and painful price we may pay.”
Netanyahu has been criticized by some Israelis, families of hostages held in Gaza and former security officials. Some argue that only a reconciliation with Hamas would allow the remaining 120 prisoners, dead or alive, to be returned, while others say his failure to offer a clear post-war alternative to Hamas has left Israel mired in Gaza.
Israeli forces rescued four hostages in central Gaza last weekend, but dozens of Gazans were killed in the operation, local health officials said. Admiral Hagari praised the operation but added, “Let’s be honest, we can’t bring everyone home this way.”
Israeli forces have been closing in on Rafah in recent weeks, sweeping along the border with Egypt to destroy tunnels they say Hamas has used to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip, as well as raids on the city itself. The United Nations estimates that more than one million Palestinians have fled Rafah.
In the northern town of Beit Jan, home to an Israeli Arab population of Druze sect, residents mourned one of the fallen soldiers, Waseem Mahmoud. Druze sects are a rare middle class in Israel and are religious minority Arabs who usually serve in the Israeli army and security forces.
Residents had planned to celebrate Eid al-Adha, a joint Muslim and Druze holiday, but all public celebrations have been cancelled following the news, said mayor Naji Dabur.
“We cannot bury our children and celebrate on the same day,” said Dabur, who offered condolences to the families on Saturday. “It is a big tragedy for us.”
