Israel announced on Tuesday that it had lost 24 soldiers in Gaza the day before, its heaviest military loss in one day since the start of its ground offensive in the Palestinian territory on October 27. 20 minutes takes stock as the symbolic bar of 200 Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza has been crossed.
What happened this Monday in Gaza?
According to Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari, 24 soldiers including 21 “reservists” died Monday. The reservists were all killed by the explosion of an “RPG” (shoulder-fired rocket) which targeted a tank and a building mined by the army for its demolition, in the south of the Gaza Strip .
The reservists were all killed in a single attack on Monday by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007. “The forces were working to destroy terrorist buildings and infrastructure […], 600 meters from the border” between Gaza and Israel, explained Daniel Hagari during a televised press briefing. “Around 4 p.m., an RPG rocket was reportedly fired by terrorists at a tank providing security to the force,” he continued. “At the same time,” an explosion blew out both buildings “which collapsed in an instant, while most of the force was still inside or nearby.”
Has an investigation been opened?
Yes, particularly because the buildings had been heavily mined with a view to their destruction. Why they exploded earlier than expected had not been determined Tuesday. And the Israeli Prime Minister announced the opening of a military investigation after this “disaster”. “We must learn all the lessons and do everything to preserve the lives of our fighters,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to “one of the hardest days” since the outbreak of the war.
What is Israel’s reaction?
The army published the identities of the reservists, one by one, on its website earlier today. “We worked to locate the victims until the last hours,” said the officer, mentioning the difficulty of extracting the bodies, buried under the rubble. “War has a heavy, even very heavy, price. Our reservists sacrificed what was most important to them so that we could all live here safely. »
And Israel, which had promised from the start of the war to “annihilate” Hamas, announced on Tuesday that it had “encircled” Khan Younes, the main city in the south of the territory, where according to Tel Aviv the local leaders of Hamas are hiding. This locality is where Yahya Sinouar, Gaza leader of Hamas, architect of the October 7 attack, was born. Witnesses reported Israeli artillery fire near Nasser Hospital. The Palestinian Red Crescent accused the Israeli army of targeting its headquarters in this city and injuring people taking refuge in the hospital grounds.
As a reminder, the Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Sunday a toll of 25,490 people killed, mostly women, adolescents and children, in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement. on October 7. During the last 24 hours, 195 people were killed, says Hamas, which also reports 63,354 people injured since the start of the conflict.