Eight Israeli soldiers have been killed as fighting continues in Rafah By Reuters
Written by James Mackenzie and Nidal al-Mughrabi
JERUSALEM/CAIRO – Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, the army said, as the army continued to raid the southern city of Rafah and strikes hit several areas of Gaza, killing at least 19 Palestinians. .
The soldiers, all members of the combat engineering unit, were in the artillery position that was hit by the blast that blew up the engineering equipment being carried in the vehicle, apparently in violation of standard procedure, the military said. It says that it is investigating the morning incident, in the area of Tel al-Sultan west of Rafah.
The armed wing of the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, said that the vehicle was trapped in an area with improvised explosive devices that began to explode.
Israeli tanks advanced on Tel al-Sultan and shells landed in the coastal area, where thousands of Palestinians, many of whom had already left their homes several times, have sought refuge.
Despite growing international pressure for an end to the fighting, a ceasefire remains elusive, more than eight months after the war began in October, with almost daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon intensifying. .
In Israeli airstrikes on two houses in Gaza City, residents said at least 15 people were killed. Four others were killed in different incidents in the south, said health officials.
Israel’s military said on Saturday that its forces in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, near the Egyptian border, seized a large number of weapons, both above ground and hidden in a large tunnel built by Hamas.
It said on Friday the army fired five rockets at an aid site in central Gaza, two of which landed in open spaces in Israel and three missed Gaza.
“This is another example of the unjust exploitation of humanitarian infrastructure and civilians as human shields by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip for their terrorist attacks,” the army said.
PROTESTS
The death of eight soldiers, pushing the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza past 300, could intensify the political situation facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a week after former general Benny Gantz resigned from the government, accusing Netanyahu of incompetence. of Gaza.
Demonstrations by families of hostages still held by Hamas, demanding an agreement to bring them home, have become weekly events, underscoring the divisions in Israeli society that have reopened following a period of unity at the beginning of the war.
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, Al-Quds Brigades, said on Saturday that Israel can return its hostages from Gaza only if it ends the war and withdraws its forces from the area.
Islamic Jihad is a small coalition of Hamas, which led a riot in southern Israel on October 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 kidnapped, according to Israeli figures. More than 100 hostages are believed to be still being held in Gaza, although at least 40 have been reported dead in their absence by Israeli authorities.
Since the week-long agreement in November, repeated attempts to arrange a cease-fire have failed, with Hamas insisting on a permanent end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu refused to end the war before Hamas was eliminated.
At least 37,296 Palestinians, at least 30 of them in the last 24 hours, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, according to the Gaza health ministry.
