On Tuesday, the Israeli Occupation Army declared the deaths of 9 of its officers and soldiers, with an additional 27 injured, amidst the ongoing conflicts in Gaza. Operations have been intensified in the southern region of the sector, while fierce clashes have erupted in the north.
The Israeli military admitted these additional casualties in two separate statements, noting that the officers and soldiers perished over the last 24 hours in skirmishes centered in the middle and south of the Gaza Strip, areas of concentrated fighting between the resistance and Israeli forces.
Beyond the nine fatalities, the Israeli military reported that 27 service members sustained injuries in Gaza in the same time frame.
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that five of the fallen military personnel were killed in a truck explosion loaded with explosives prepared for destroying tunnels in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli media sources indicated that an additional 30 officers and soldiers were wounded in the explosion.
With these latest losses, the death toll of Israeli military personnel announced since the ground operation in Gaza began on October 27th, has risen to 191, reaching a total of 519 since the wider operation known as "Operation Cast Lead."
Israeli sources unveiled last night that 9 soldiers were killed and several others injured in two separate Palestinian resistance operations, with official confirmation of these losses delayed until Tuesday.
Reportedly, one of the attacks caused an ammunition explosion in a military truck, resulting in casualties. The other attack involved shelling a building occupied by soldiers in the southern sector.
Israeli sources asserted that this acknowledgment of the dead is the heaviest blow suffered by the army since the war started.
Before these Israeli losses were disclosed, the Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – announced their success in thwarting an Israeli attempt to free prisoners following the infiltration of a special force into the Al-Bureij refugee camp in Central Gaza.
An image from a previous Al-Qassam Brigades operation against occupying forces in the Gaza Strip (social media).
Al-Qassam Brigades Operations
During the course of Tuesday, the Al-Qassam Brigades claimed their fighters targeted an Israeli force with an anti-personnel explosive, causing casualties in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
In Khan Yunis as well, the Brigades stated that they destroyed an Israeli Merkava tank with a "Yaseen 105" projectile. The targeted tank, categorized as one of the most fortified and potent in warfare, reportedly caught fire.
The military wing of Hamas also declared that their gunmen successfully sniped 4 Israeli soldiers with the Qassam-type Ghoul rifle in the vicinity of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
On Monday, the Al-Qassam Brigades released images of a barrage of rockets launched from northern Gaza towards Tel Aviv, marking 94 days since the start of the war.
Khan Yunis and the North
Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera's correspondent reported severe explosions in the northeastern regions of the Gaza Strip.
The Anadolu News Agency added that intense clashes broke out for the first time in over a week between the occupation forces and Palestinian resistance in northern Gaza.
The agency documented that the confrontations began at dawn and persisted for hours in Jabaliya and Beit Hanoun, at the far northern edge of the Strip.
This development refutes the repeated claims by the Israeli army that it has established control over the region and neutralized resistance capabilities.
Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagarai stated that various army units have expanded their ground maneuvers in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, claiming the killing of 40 Palestinian militants and the discovery of diverse combative means and tunnel openings.
Hagarai also mentioned that naval forces attacked military sites and warehouses belonging to Hamas over the past 24 hours and conducted an aerial raid targeting militants in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Earlier, the spokesperson for the occupation army indicated that the focus of their forces is currently on the combat in central Gaza, specifically in the central refugee camps of Al-Bureij and in the southern sector near Khan Yunis. He further added that fighting in these areas is complex and expected to continue throughout the current year.
