Eight Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers were killed in a single attack after their tank exploded in a surprise Hamas ambush.
All Israeli troops were killed inside the Namer tank, with no survivors. The eight dead are believed to have been driving in a convoy of several tanks following an overnight offensive against Hamas when the explosion hit. The convoy had been heading to buildings that the IDF had captured for the troops to rest. The Israeli tank, the Namer APC, is widely known as one of the world’s best-protected tanks.
The attack took place in Rafah, where Israel’s latest controversial offensive is taking place. Israel’s allies, including the US and UK, have repeatedly warned that they do not support the Rafah invasion in Gaza.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the IDF is trying to oust Hamas from its “last major stronghold”
However, the devastating strike on the IDF signals that Hamas’ capabilities are far from exhausted.
It has also coincided with the largest anti-government protest in Tel Aviv since October 7, as thousands of Israelis demanded a hostage deal this evening.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirmed that the military was investigating whether the tank was hit by a Hamas anti-tank missile.
Al-Qassam, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the strike, saying that its fighters had orchestrated a “complex ambush” on a convoy of Israeli armoured personnel carrier in Rafah, killing several Israeli soldiers.
It is the deadliest attack on the IDF since January when 21 Israeli troops when two buildings collapsed in central Gaza.
The tank explosion follows the killing of four Israeli soldiers on Monday after the building they were searching in Rafah collapsed.
The conflict in Gaza has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians since it started, according to the Hamas-run health authorities.
The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages.
The latest deaths will likely further calls to adopt the US-backed ceasefire deal, which was approved by the UN Security Council on Monday. Hamas has said it is ready to cooperate with mediators over implementing the principles of the plan.
The ceasefire deal would create a permanent ceasefire on the basis of a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the G7 summit this week that Israel had fallen into Hamas’ trap in Gaza.
She told reporters that “it seems that Israel has fallen into a trap, a Hamas trap that had the aim of isolating it, and it seems to be working”.
