Eight Israeli soldiers, including a captain, died this Saturday in a “serious incident” during an operation in Rafah, at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, where it is the day with the most casualties among the ranks of Israel since January.
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The captain is Wassem Mahmoud, 23 years old and from Beit Jann (in northern Israel), and was the deputy commander of the 601st Engineering Battalion of the Israeli Army.
“Seven other soldiers also fell in this incident. Their families have been notified,” added a military statement.
Flames and destruction where the Firas market used to be in the center of Gaza City.
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It is the deadliest day for the Israeli Army since January 22, when 21 soldiers died when two buildings collapsed on them. in the deadliest incident since Israel launched the ground operation in the enclave.
The al-Qasam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed his death this Saturday morning as “an ambush against enemy vehicles” that were in the area of Tal al-Sultan, in the west of Rafah.
According to the Islamist organization, they attacked an armored combat engineering vehicle ‘Namer’ using an Al Yassin 105 projectile, which set it on fire and killed the eight soldiers.
The Army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, declared this Saturday night in an appearance that The incident was “probably” caused by an explosive device placed near the armored vehicle or an anti-tank missile fired at it.
However, the armed forces point out that the explosion of a bomb hit the vehicle, which was loaded with explosive material, causing it to also explode and triggering a large detonation that killed the eight soldiers.
Israeli military vehicles near the border with the Gaza Strip.
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After hearing the news, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement to show his condolences for the death of eight soldiers. in which he insisted on the need to continue fighting in the Strip, since “there is no alternative to victory.”
“This monstrous enemy does not intend to stop here. Along with the rest of Iran’s evil axis of evil, it will continue to try to destroy us,” he said in the video, “so there is no alternative to victory.”
This monstrous enemy does not intend to stop here
Under this premise, Netanyahu once again claimed to achieve Israel’s “war objectives” in the face of the ceasefire: destroy the military and government capabilities of Hamas, rescue the hostages, ensure that Gaza is not a threat to the country and that Evacuated residents can return to their homes, both in the north, along the border with Lebanon, and in the south.
“Many more challenges await us,” predicted the Israeli leader in the face of the war that the country is waging “on several fronts, including the international one.”
Multiple Israeli incursions into Rafah
Throughout Saturday, The Army has launched numerous raids and air attacks against different points in the east, center and west of the city, border with Egypt.
Rafah has become one of the centers of the Israeli offensive in the Strip, and the source of most of its casualties since the armed forces entered the city on May 6.
This Monday, four other soldiers – two of them 19 years old and in their training period – died due to an explosion inside a building in Rafah that was apparently riddled with explosives and in which the soldiers found a manhole. tunnel.
Since Israel launched its ground operation against Gaza, 307 soldiers have died and at least another 1,500 have been injured, according to the Army itself. In total, there are more than 620 dead if the Hamas attack on October 7 is taken into account.
Anti-government demonstration held in Tel Aviv.
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On the other hand, since October 7, 37,296 people have lost their lives in Gaza, while 85,197 were injured, 70% of them women and children, according to the Ministry of Health of the enclave, ruled by Hamas.
Fears that the conflict will spread to the rest of the Middle East also resurfaced this week with recent rocket and drone fire by the Lebanese movement. Hezbollah, supported by Iran and allied to Hamas, against Israeli military targets.
Hezbollah claimed that these attacks, which began on Wednesday, are in retaliation for an Israeli attack that killed one of its commanders on Tuesday.
At the same time, Thousands of Israelis demonstrated this Saturday afternoon throughout the country, with a special influx in Tel Aviv -where concentrations of this type take place every Saturday- to protest against the Netanyahu Government and demand a ceasefire agreement that allows the return of the hostages, since there are still 116 in the Strip and 40, according to the Army, would be dead.
Andrey Kozlov, one of the four hostages rescued alive last Saturday in the operation in Nuseirat in which 274 Gazans died, published a video in which he called to attend the usual protest in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square this Saturday and demanded a ceasefire from the prime minister.
“For the hostages who remain in Gaza there is one decision, only one: it is the agreement between Israel and Hamas,” demanded the 27-year-old.
Until today, negotiations between both sides have always come up against the same obstacle: the end of the war, an indispensable condition for the Islamist organization in order to return the hostages, while Israel maintains that it will not stop its offensive until it ends.
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