IDF reports deadliest incident in Rafah since operation began with 8 soldiers killed

The Israel Defense Forces reported the deadliest incident in Rafah since the start of the ground operation after a catastrophic explosion killed eight soldiers in an armored personnel carrier.

The eight soldiers were riding in a modern Namer APC when a massive explosion killed all occupants. Times of Israel reported. The investigation is ongoing and it is not known whether the explosion was caused by an IED, an anti-tank missile or another weapon. Some sources said the explosion took on devastating proportions after ammunition stored on board was detonated. The incident is one of the deadliest of the entire Gaza war for the Israeli forces and the deadliest since ground operations began in Rafah last month.

Among the dead was 23-year-old Captain Wassem Mahmoud from the Druze village of Beit Jann. The village has the highest casualty rate among Israeli soldiers of all communities in Israel.

“The Druze community is once again paying a very high price in this war. Captain Waseem Mahmoud, may his memory be blessed, from Beit Jann joins the long list of fallen Druze who have sacrificed their lives for the security of the state since the outbreak of the war,” said Sheikh Muafak Tarif, head of the Druze community in Israel.

The Druze are an esoteric ethnic-religious offshoot of the Muslims, which is characterized in Israel by its exceptionally good relations with Jews and the Israeli government.

Although Mahmoud was the only soldier whose identity was publicly known, the IDF has contacted the other families.

The Washington Examiner has reached out to the IDF for comment.

The explosion occurred at around 5 a.m. local time. The troops were taken to recently captured buildings that had been taken after a battle with armed Hamas fighters. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack was the deadliest against Israeli forces in the war since January, when Hamas rocket fire caused two buildings housing Israeli soldiers to collapse, killing 21 people.

According to Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Israel has lost 660 soldiers since October 7, many of them during the initial Hamas attack.

“In proportional terms, that would be like the United States losing 22,000 soldiers – more than three times the number of American soldiers who died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11,” he said. “And these losses by the Israeli forces were mostly conscripts and reservists.”

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The number of Palestinian casualties is highly disputed. Gaza health authorities claim that over 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, most of them women and children. However, Israeli authorities vehemently deny this figure, saying the numbers are inflated and that the majority of those killed were Hamas fighters.

The Namer is one of the best-protected APCs in the world and was converted from a Merkava tank chassis. The vehicles are coveted by the Israeli Defense Forces, but are expensive and take a long time to produce. The army mostly relies on older, less well-armored APCs such as the American M113.