Hamas claims responsibility for 8 Israeli soldiers killed in explosion

JERUSALEM >> Eight Israeli soldiers were killed today while riding in an armored vehicle in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said, as the country’s offensive in the southern city of Rafah continues to take a toll on its troops.

The fatalities occurred at around 5:15 a.m. local time as Israeli troops were operating northwest of Tel al-Sultan, a neighborhood in western Rafah, the Israeli military said. The eight soldiers, who belonged to the military’s engineer corps, were traveling in an armored vehicle when the explosion occurred, the military said.

The Palestinian armed group Hamas said in a statement that its militants fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli military vehicles in western Rafah, killing some soldiers. It was not immediately clear whether the fire was an explosive device or anti-tank missiles, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, told reporters.

The explosion damaged the vehicle but may have ignited the ammunition inside, Israeli military officials said, adding that the shock wave was so strong that locating and identifying the bodies was difficult.

Israel has been fighting in Gaza for more than eight months since the October 7 Hamas-led attack. The attack killed around 1,200 people in Israel – most of them civilians – and took around 250 hostage. According to Palestinian health officials, who do not distinguish between fighters and civilians, more than 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began.

Hamas is waging a tenacious guerrilla war, resisting Israeli efforts to definitively defeat the organization, overthrow its leaders and release many of those kidnapped during the October 7 surprise attack. According to the Israeli military, an estimated 13,000 to 14,000 militants have been killed in the Gaza campaign. Israeli officials have provided no evidence to support this calculation.

More than 300 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza in late October. In late January, about 20 Israeli soldiers were killed as they prepared to demolish buildings in Gaza near the border with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly mourned the deaths of the soldiers and called on Israel to remain true to its military goals: the destruction of Hamas, the repatriation of the hostages and “ensuring that Gaza can no longer pose a threat to Israel.”

“There is no substitute for victory,” Netanyahu said, adding: “Let no one distract you from the simple and clear fact: We must remain faithful to the war aims, regardless of the high and painful price we must pay for them.”

Netanyahu has been criticized by sections of the Israeli public, the families of the hostages held in Gaza and former security officials. Some argue that only a deal with Hamas will release the remaining 120 living and dead prisoners; others say his failure to articulate a clear post-war alternative to Hamas has trapped the country in a holding pattern in Gaza.

Israeli forces freed four hostages in a rescue operation in central Gaza last weekend, which local health officials said also killed numerous Palestinians. Hagari praised the operation, but added: “We have to be honest – we cannot bring everyone home this way.”

Israeli forces have moved toward Rafah in recent weeks, combing the border area with Egypt to destroy tunnels that Hamas allegedly uses to smuggle weapons into Gaza. They have also carried out raids in the city itself. The United Nations estimates that more than a million Palestinians have fled Rafah.

In the northern town of Beit Jann, which is inhabited by Arab Israelis who belong to the Druze faith, residents mourned Waseem Mahmoud, one of the fallen soldiers. The Druze occupy an unusual middle position in Israel: They are Arab followers of a minority religion who usually serve in Israel’s military and security forces.

Residents of the city had planned to celebrate Eid al-Adha, which is celebrated by both Muslims and Druze, but in light of the news, all public celebrations were canceled, said Nazih Dabour, the city’s mayor.

“We cannot bury our children and celebrate on the same day,” said Dabour, who paid his condolence visit to the family today. “It is a great tragedy for us.”

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This article originally appeared in the New York Times.