The Israeli military announced Tuesday the death of four Israeli soldiers and numerous others injured after the detonation of a house where they were deployed at Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.
Some of the soldiers were in critical condition after the attack Monday, according to military reports. Five soldiers have been hospitalized and two are in intensive care, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan said.
Hamas’ military wing Qassam Brigades has said in a statement that it booby-trapped the house in which these soldiers had stormed. “Zionist forces who had barricaded themselves inside a booby trapped building got their house blown up to smithereens by our fighters,” it added.
This apparent ambush targeted an Israeli reconnaissance unit which believed that it was examining a tunnel shaft within a three-story building, according to Kan. The focus of Israeli forces in Gaza has been on destroying the tunnels used by Hamas militants.
After blowing up the explosive devices, Hamas militants launched mortar fire as Israelis tried to evacuate their dead and wounded, with both sides confirming this account.
Fighting has come in fits and starts for months now since early May when Israeli troops entered that southern city despite international disapproval. Rafah was home to over half of Gaza’s population during those months. People resident elsewhere in the territory fled there because Israeli forces directed them not to engage in combat but rather find refuge there.
In turn, many Palestinians driven out of Rafah went towards central Gaza which too witnessed fighting and heavy bombing since Israel declared new operations there late last week. Health authorities say at least two hundred have died from Nuseirat alone on Saturday during an operation by Israelis troops leading to release of 4 Israelis detained as hostages.
According to IDF statistics on casualties over eight months since its offensive into Gaza began following Oct 7 attacks led by Hamas; 298 is indicative of total number of its dead soldiers while Palestinian toll is much higher: more than 36 thousand were killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities, although this data does not differ between combatants and non-combatants.
